


Danaganronpa / Love Live! AU Chapter 4

by STARRY_RlN



Series: The Killing Idol Festival [4]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 15:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12986919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARRY_RlN/pseuds/STARRY_RlN
Summary: The fourth chapter of my Love Live/Danganronpa AU!another reminder to read the chapter before this one to avoid spoilers!





	Danaganronpa / Love Live! AU Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took as long as it did to come out! School started back up and v3 came out so I've been busy with those, I hope you understand! I'm sorry for the wait!

**_CHAPTER 4_ **

**_Pain Thrives Within Innocence_ **

 

Nico’s execution left everyone in a bit of a daze. So much had happened and no one really wanted to talk. All the members of μ’s had already left the Commons Area except for Maki. The others remaining were You, Ruby, and Maru. Everyone was sort of out of it until Maru spoke up.

“S-so… Chika, do you know what Nico meant at the end of the trial zura?”

“H-huh? What do you mean?”

“She said something like ‘don’t forget my message to you’. What was her message?”

Maru raised a good question. What was Nico’s message? She never really gave me something that was an obvious message to me. The only message I’ve gotten in which I know the sender was the one from Mari to meet her in the Baths.

“Hm, I’m not sure honestly. I can’t think of any message I got from her.”

“Okay, well I hope you find out what it was, Nico seemed to think it was important enough to tell you not to forget it zura.”

Maru left and I saw You and Ruby talking to each other as Maki approached me.

“H-hey Maki, um…”

“You don’t have to say you’re sorry for me, I was expecting something like this to happen to Nico. There’s something I want to talk to you about though, I want to give up on something as Nico had wished in the end. So in order to do that…”

“Hm? What is it? What do you need to do?”

“I… I would like to consider you a friend in order to realize Nico’s wishes.”

“W-wait really? You want to be my friend?”

“Y-yes… You’re likely the most optimistic person here, so I figure being your friend will help to improve my own attitude… If that’s ok with you...”

“Of course I’ll be your friend! Let’s do our best to make the most of this situation and live together in peace!”

“Y-yeah! Let’s do our best!”

Maki was still acting really docile, she’s totally changed since we first woke up here, I’m happy with the change. Maki left the Commons Area and the only ones left were myself, You, and Ruby.

“So… Ruby and I were talking and we noticed something...”

“What is it?”

“Well, now 6 people are gone, and the only subunits still fully together are us, and Lily White.”

“Huh, I guess you’re right. Also Hanayo and Maki are the last ones in each of their subunits.”

“Yeah… and Guilty Kiss lost Yoshiko and AZALEA lost Kanan. I’m kind of scared of who’ll be next…”

“Well hey, let’s not think of it as who’s next, there won’t be a next! We can all just live here together, there’s no reason to kill each other, we can all just live together happily!”

“Chika, I love you but you know that’s not true, something’s going to happen, even if we all become friends someone will die at some point. All we can do is try to survive and be one of the last three that get to leave.”

“I… You’re right, but I want to be optimistic, we need to all be happy, we can’t let Monokuma beat us, as long as we have trust in each other we can get out of this!”

“I-I… I agree with Chika… I trust sis and she trusts me and we trust Mari and Maru, there’s no way anyone is going to die as long as we have a web of trust in each other!”

“Exactly! We just need to expand our web of trust! If we do that then I’m sure we can find another way out of this! We can survive as long as we trust each other!”

“Hmm… I want to believe you Chika, I’ll try my best and of course I have total faith in everyone! I’m just scared of being betrayed…”

“Don’t worry You! I’ll never betray you! And as long as you, me, and Riko are together there’s nothing that can stop us!”

“Y-Yeah! Of course I’ll never betray you either! Or Riko! Or anyone else here!”

Ruby was smiling, it seems like our enthusiasm and optimism are spreading. It felt nice to be able to keep Ruby’s spirits up. It must be hard for her and I can’t imagine how badly she would be hurt if Dia or Maru were to be killed…

“Alright! Let’s get out there and build our trust in each other! As long as we have that trust nothing can stop us!”

“Y-Yeah! Ganbaruby!”

With that, Ruby ran out of the room ahead of both me and You.

“Well, You,  should we go check on Riko?”

“Yeah, I guess we should. She’ll probably be painting Yoshiko’s and Nico’s paintings in the Bathroom, right?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what would make sense.”

You and I walked to the bathrooms and the foul smell of the blood that had been pooled before was gone. Riko seemed to be really focused on Nico’s painting and I could see Yohane’s on the floor leaning against the easel she was using. Since there was nowhere to sit in the Bathroom she had brought a stool, likely from the Storage Room.

“Hey you two, I’m almost done with this so do you mind leaving me alone for a little while longer?”

“Y-yeah! We can wait for you, take your time Riko.”

You and I left the bathroom. Upon our exit there was a call from our left.

“Hey! You! There you are. D-do you think we could talk for a bit?”

“Hm? What is it Umi?”

“Th-there’s something I want to talk about. It’s been on my mind for a while and you’re probably the person I’ll have the easiest time talking to. Sorry to take you away like this I just don’t really feel comfortable talking about it with anyone else. Could you please come to my room?”

Umi bowed and ran off before You could answer. Umi hasn’t really been able to calm down since our first trial but she’s definitely gotten better over time. I’m proud of her for being able to progress like this.

“W-well… I guess I should go see what she wants… Sorry to leave you alone like this Chika, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”

You was awkwardly shuffling away as she said that and turned into a jog as soon as the last syllable left her mouth. She must have some idea what Umi wants to talk about and it must be important… I shouldn’t push her on it though.

I stood in the doorway and thought about what to do next. I thought about everything that had happened that day and the night before. As I stood in the middle of the hall I remembered something that could be important, or it may not matter at all, but Nico had said before finding Yoshiko’s body that there was something she wanted to show me in the medicine room cabinet. Could that be the last message she was talking about?

I went into the medicine room and saw that there was nobody inside, but there were a few books on the counter and the desk by the door. Maki must have come in here since the trial. Ignoring that I went over to the cabinets and tried to see if I could find anything suspicious, but I didn’t see anything. I turned, about to leave when something caught my eye. The wastebasket beside the door and desk. There was only one thing in it, or should I say collection of things. There were many pieces of what seemed to be a torn up note. Could that have been what Nico was talking about? Maybe it could have been a note for me to read after the trial that someone else had gotten to first, she would have known we would find the body on our way here after all.

I took the scraps out of the basket and hid them in my shoe so nobody would ask why I was carrying around so many pieces of torn up paper. As I left the Medicine Room I saw Maki come out of the library with another stack of books.

“Huh? Oh hey Chika, what were you doing in the medicine room? Did you need me for something? Are you feeling sick at all?”

“O-oh, no! I’m fine, I was just um, taking the trash out of the rooms in the center hall, there was only paper in there so I didn’t really leave the burner on, but I was just about to get what was in the library, ehehe…”

I really was a terrible liar, it seemed like there was no way someone like Maki would believe me but for some reason it seemed like she did.

“Oh! Okay, Hanamaru is in there so try to be quiet, she seems really involved in what she’s reading so I don’t want to disturb her.”

Maki passed me into the medicine room and closed the door. I heard the lock click so I guess she wanted to be alone for a little while to read whatever she had brought with her. I only saw one of the books while she passed and its title was ‘Detection and Curing of Deadly Poisons.’

I decided to play along with what I said I would do so I walked into the Library to take the trash there into the garbage room. When I walked in I saw Maru at a table surrounded by mountains of books. I quietly walked over to the trash can and saw an absurd amount of snack wrappers in it. I could tell from that that Maru was really stressed. Considering Yoshiko was found dead just earlier that day it was understandable. As I leaned down to take the bag I heard my name in a whisper.

“Hey Chika.”

I responded just as quietly as the voice that said my name.

“Huh? Who said that?’

“Who else is here zura? I want to talk to you about something.”

It was Maru, she hadn’t put down her book so I hadn’t realized she was talking to me.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“First I want you to lock the door, I don’t want anyone coming in here.”

“O-Ok?”

I did as instructed, there was no way Maru would do anything dangerous and I’m sure I could subdue her in a struggle so I’m not afraid of her doing anything.

“I… There’s someone I can’t help but distrust.”

“Huh? Who is it?”

“Maki.”   
“Huh? But she’s turned over, she’s being nice and friendly now, she’s not being an almost dictator like she was before, she cares about us now.”

“But don’t you think that’s weird? How can someone change so much so quickly?”

“W-well… It’s because of Nico right?”

“I just… She rubs me the wrong way zura. I’m scared, I don’t know how to explain this, I just feel like she’s dangerous, please be careful, okay?”

This was a lot like that note You had found in the doorway to the cafeteria when Rin made ramen for myself, her, and Riko. But Maru can’t be the one who left that note right? If she were then she wouldn’t be talking to me like this, she would use another note in that case. So there are two people who are telling me to be careful of Maki… But I have to trust her! If we don’t trust each other then we can’t survive. If we can’t trust each other, then I wouldn’t even want to survive.

“W-well, I’ll keep what you said in mind, do you want me to do a snack run for you?”

“Zura? You’ll do that for me? Thanks Chika!”

Maru smiled and the heavy mood in the library was lifted. I felt like I could relax now and as I left I took the trash with me. I took it into the trash room and started the incinerator. In the kitchen I took as many different snacks as I could find that I thought Maru might like. Mari was in the cafeteria and she helped me pick out a few western snacks she knew. I filled everything into a basket and carried it down to the library. I had to take a break part way since it was so heavy but when I got it there I saw Maru’s face light up with joy. She immediately started pulling food out and piling it into her mouth. Before she made too much of a mess I quickly went into the storage closet and grabbed a new bag for the trash can and put it in for her.

As I put the bag into the can I heard the door open and saw as You and Umi came into the library.

“Heya Chika! Umi and I are done talking but she decided to follow me here anyways, I think she may be lonely.”

“H-hey! Don’t make me sound like someone so reliant on others’ company that I can’t last 10 minutes without anyone!”

“Ehehe, those are your words, not mine!”

“H-hey! Quiet down, it’s a library zura.”

“O-oh, sorry Maru. Wow, that’s a lot of snacks though.”

“Right You? Chika got them for me! She got a ton of stuff I didn’t even know was snack food or even food in the first place but it’s so cool!”

“Y-you know, Hanamaru, if you eat that much you’ll gain weight…”

“I know Umi, but eating helps calm me down zura. I do enough to keep myself from getting too heavy.”

“I guess that’s true… If this is a regular thing then your body must be used to using up that much energy. I guess you just didn’t strike me as the type to exercise that much Hanamaru. I apologize. Maybe we could work out together sometime? I’m curious what your regimen must be like to burn that weight yet still gain so little muscle.”

“Eh? W-well… most of my exercise actually came from practice with Kanan and Dia in AZALEA… I don’t actually do a lot myself… I’m usually just sitting somewhere reading a book zura.”

“Hmm… now I’m even more curious… Rin’s really active so I understand her staying so light despite how much she eats but you’re even thinner than her… I wonder how your body does that.”

“I-I dunno… I never really think about it, but Aqours practice is usually enough for me to keep my weight balanced. It’s not like I’m exactly thin but it’s never really been something I needed to worry about zura.”

“H-hey maybe we should stop bothering Maru about this and let her read, come on You, Umi, l-let’s go.”

“Y-yeah, I agree, it’s rude to bother Maru about this, come on Umi.”

“O-oh… I’m sorry Hanamaru, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Don’t worry about it zura! I-I’m just gonna get back to reading now.”

Maru turned back to continue reading as Umi, You and I left the library. Umi walked off ahead of us and You took the lead, heading into the bathrooms.

“Heya Riko! You done yet?”

We walked in to see Riko cleaning up after herself.

“Y-yeah, I just finished, do you think you could help me clean? I had a lot of colours this time around so there are a lot of bottles and cans to take back down the hall.”

“Yeah don’t worry! I’ve got this!”

You stepped forward and took about half the cans in one arm and the bucket of paint bottles in the other. She was struggling to hold her right arm up and it was clear she was just showing off but it was impressive nonetheless.

“Wow You, I knew you were strong but that’s a lot of paint!”

“Ehehe, this is nothing Riko! Hey Chika, Riko and I have the paint so you just bring the paintings down to the Commons Area, okay?”

“A-Alright…”

I took the paintings of Yohane and Nico’s bodies and walked to the Commons Area with them. When I opened the door I saw something I hadn’t expected.

Umi was moving the tables in the room and placing candles around the paintings to create a more proper altar for those who were gone.

At least that’s what I think she was doing, the second I opened the door she turned and froze up, her face was bright red.

“I-I-I”

“Umi are you… setting up altars for us to mourn at?”

“I-I-I”

“Ehehe, don’t worry Umi, I won’t tell anyone! I can tell you wanted to keep this a secret, so I’ll help you keep it that way.”

“Th-thank you…”

There were 6 for those who were already gone, all labeled with their nameplates and they had the candles lit. I placed Yoshiko’s and Nico’s paintings in their spots and looked down the line. There were nine more spots for paintings to go in.

“Hey, Umi, why are there nine more empty spots?”

“W-well, the rule in our Monobooks, it says the killing festival will continue until there are only 3 of us left. So I didn’t see a point in making the extra 3 spots.”

“W-well, I was thinking more like… Are we going to need that many? We could still find another way out. Before that many people have to die!”

“Hmm… I’m not sure… We haven’t found anything that looks remotely like a way out. If you ask me I think the only way out is the elevator that’s made up of this room. The same room that takes us to the trial grounds. It can probably take us outside as well.”

“So we just need to figure out how to control the elevator ourselves!”

Suddenly I heard a voice that I knew all too well.

“Not happening! There’s no way you’ll get to the controller for this room!”

“Ugh, Monokuma, why not? Can’t you just give it to us? We’ve been such good guests at your hotel after all!”

“No, a good guest is one that kills someone, if you kill someone and get away with it then I’ll give you the controller!”

“I’m not going to kill anyone no matter what you say Monokuma! We’ll get the controller another way!”

“Upupu, we’ll see about that. Maybe I’ll come up with some kind of motive to make the seemingly least likely people into a killer. You’ll just have to wait and see what I come up with next!”

“Well do you know the next motive yet? Or do you keep coming up with them on the spot?”

“Of course I know the next motive! It’s all ready and set up! In fact there’s already someone who knows what it is! Well, I think you’ll realize what it’ll be tomorrow.”

Monokuma disappeared before I could say anything. What could it be? Something that was set up? That would mean it’s not something as simple as a promise like the money or taking someone else with you, right?”

“Ignore him, all he ever spouts is nonsense. That bear really gets on my nerves…”

“Yeah… Monokuma’s really annoying, first he stops us from sharing clothes, now he teases us like this… I hate him!”

“Just remember to never direct that anger at anyone else Chika… I’d hate for you to end up falling into Monokuma’s trap like that and become a killer.”

“O-Of course, I would never kill anyone!”

“Oh, by the way, is your back okay? You seem fine but you still got stabbed pretty hard on our first day here, I just want to make sure you’re not just pushing through the pain since that could be worse for your health in the long run.”

“Yup! My back’s been fine! Maki was definitely right about You being bad at killing someone ehehe… She didn’t hit anything important at all, I can hardly feel it anymore even if you push on my back!”

“Well that’s good, can I just make sure though? I’m worried for you and I’ve said this before but you’re a lot like Honoka, you probably wouldn’t admit when you’re in pain just so you don’t worry the others around you…”

“W-well… You’re not wrong… But yeah, go ahead and push on my back, I can take it!”

I turned around and waited to feel Umi’s hand on my back, but I never felt a push. Rather, I felt a punch. Umi just punched me right where I had gotten stabbed the first day we were in this Hotel.

“Ow! What was that for Umi?”

“Well, you’re still standing so I guess you’re ok, sorry I just didn’t think a push would be enough since if you tensed up you could handle it even if you were in pain. I apologise for needing to punch you like that Chika.”

“I-it’s fine Umi! Don’t worry about it! You were just worried about me so it’s ok!”

Although it definitely feels like it’s going to bruise…

“That’s good to hear! Well anyways I’m glad you’re ok!”

“Y-yeah, I am too.”

Suddenly the door was swung open and Riko and You came into the Commons Area

“Woah.”

“Who set all this up for my paintings? It’s amazing!”

Umi was already bright red and starting to panic. I think I found someone worse at lying than me.

“W-well, I saw Umi on my way down here and she decided to follow me while we talked about random stuff and it was like this when we got here! Right Umi?”

“Er-Uh-Yeah! It was all set up like this when we got here! I have no idea who set this up!”

“O-okay…” It was clear Riko could see right through us. “W-well, if you ever find out who did it tell them I really appreciate it and I’m happy that despite the situation there are still people who care enough to give everyone a proper altar!”

I could see Umi starting to tear up from Riko’s comments.

“M-Mhm, I-I’ll be sure to tell th-them… Thank you Riko.”

“Huh? Why are you thanking me? I didn’t do anything for you.”

Umi smiled, knowing that Riko was just playing along, and hugged her before leaving to her room.

“Well that was nice.”

“Yeah, it was, you just keep giving me more reasons to love you every day Riko! You’re so sweet!”

“H-hey, stop it You! Leave me alone…”

“Ehehe, you’re so fun to tease!”

As the three of us were talking a familiar tone played in the corner of the room.

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. It is now Nighttime, the Cafeteria, Central hall, and Exercise rooms are now off limits.”

“Well, I guess we should go back to my room now.”

“Yeah, let’s go, we’ll probably get our next motive tomorrow, that’s how this seems to be working at least. We’ve been getting our motives the day after the trial.”

“Yeah, I guess we have been, well at least we have something to look forward to if you can call it that.”

The three of us left and I chose not to mention what Monokuma had said to me. Apparently the motive was already set up and ready. Did that mean the motive was an object? Something more physical? I wasn’t sure, but I put it out of my mind. We’d probably find out tomorrow so it didn’t really matter that we said that, right?

Sleep came unsettlingly easily that night. And I was far from prepared for what would come the next day.

 

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. Nighttime is now over, I hope you all have a bea-utiful day!”

I sat up and stretched at the sound of what has become our morning alarm. I could feel movement to either side of myself as Riko and You got up to go and get dressed in their rooms.

However before they could get up there was a knock. Being the closest to the door, You was the one to open it, and who we saw was none other than Mari.

“Hey, you three, once you’re all dressed and ready you all need to come to the cafeteria, it’s important.”

She had hardly gotten the words out before taking off down the hall to Umi’s room to inform her of the same thing. You and Riko both looked at me and I shrugged before they went to their own rooms to get ready. As I dressed myself, dozens of thoughts flashed through my mind. What had Mari so worked up? Did it have to do with the next motive? Maybe whatever it was had turned up in the cafeteria. As I went to put on my shoes I remembered the scraps of the note I found in the medicine room. I never had gotten a chance to put them together yesterday. I decided to stash them in my dresser under some clothes so I could piece it together later.

As I opened the door Riko was waiting for me but it seemed like You had finished before either of us and was already in the cafeteria.

We walked down the hall and what we saw was far from what I could have possibly imagined.

In the center of the cafeteria was Dia, and in her arms, in a way that almost seemed like she was being restrained, was Ruby. Dia looked like she was about to cry and Ruby had a terrifying look on her face. She looked almost animalistic. It didn’t fit her at all.

“Wh-what’s going on? What’s wrong with Ruby?”

Dia responded but I could tell she was having trouble getting the words out.

“I-I don’t know, she was like this when I woke up, she was making a ton of noise and woke me up early, I chased her here and I’ve been holding her for about half an hour until Mari came and she said she’d get everyone grouped up in here.”

As she was speaking the remaining 7 girls showed up.

“I got everyone, maybe we should ask Monokuma if he knows what’s going on?”

Suddenly, as if being summoned by his own name, Monokuma appeared in the middle of the cafeteria, behind Dia and Ruby.

“Upupu, there we go, obviously this is the certainly long awaited killing motive!”

Umi and I shared a knowing glance. Someone knew about this already. Someone knew Ruby would turn into this… this thing… What was wrong with her? How could something like this happen to her? What did Monokuma DO to her?

“W-wait so you’re saying you did this? Fix her! I don’t want my little sister to be like this! It’s not okay!”

“Hey, hold your horses ya hunk o’ rock! I was just getting to how to fix it!”

“Then tell us zura! I don’t want to see Ruby suffering like this!”

“Well, why don’t I tell you all the story behind this motive first!”

“Just give us the antidote Monokuma! We don’t have the time for this!”

“You’re still argumentative as ever Nishikino, I don’t much like you. Of course you have time, you’re stuck here for the rest of your lives after all! Upupupupu! Well anyways, this is a little bit of a disease I’ve made with my high amounts of funding. It used to be something made up in a video game world but I thought it’d be a fun way to spice up a killing game in the real world! It’s non-contagious in this new form which is a bit different but I can inject it into anyone I choose while they sleep. I’ll be infecting one person per night until a killing happens and that’s your motive! Once someone dies I’ll give you all the antidote. So if you wanna cure your sister you just have to kill someone! Not that it would matter though since if you got away with it she’d die anyways Upupu.”

“This! This is unacceptable Monokuma! How is illness a fair motive! You’re just going to turn us all into rabid animals until we kill someone?”

“Oh yeah, I guess I left out that detail, it affects each individual differently, so whoever gets it tomorrow will have a different version of the disease than the younger rock here.”   
“Th-that… That defies all my understanding of medicine. There’s no way I could make a cure for something like that, it’d be like trying to cure cancer on your own.”   
“Of course, why would I make a disease that you guys could cure? That’d just be sloppy work now wouldn’t it?”

As Monokuma finished taunting Maki he left us with Ruby’s uncontrollable rage to take care of. You ended up being the next to speak up.

“So, should we name the disease just so we have something to call it other than ‘Ruby’s disease’? Plus it’ll help to differentiate the different types once more of us get infected.”

“Th-that sounds like a good idea, we should keep it simple right? How about something like the Rage Disease?”

“That sounds great Hanayo, simple and to the point, a disease that causes uncontrollable rage.”

“Th-thanks Umi!”

“Well if that’s figured out I’m going to check out the library and see if I can find anything about a disease like this.”

Maki left and so did Nozomi, Maru, and Umi.

“So what do we do with Ruby? It’d be hard to keep her tied up somewhere and since the doors open inwards we can’t just block her in her room.”

“I-I’ll keep her in my room, I feel like it’s the safest bet since even with the disease I don’t think she’d attack me, and I can block my door from the inside.”

“That sounds fine but what about food? How are you going to eat?”

“I’ll just eat a lot now and I can probably make it a few days without food, I can get water from the sink in my bathroom so I think I’ll be fine.”

“I-If you say so Dia.”   
“Here, let me take Ruby while you eat, it’s the least I could do to help.”

“Thank you You, I’m sorry to have to do this to you, hold on tight, I think she’s gone slack to make me let my guard down so she can get away, her heart is still racing so I can tell she’s still hyper.”

Dia passed Ruby to You, it was a sad sight, Ruby needing to be treated like an animal, something to be passed around and restrained. I could hardly look. As I turned away Rin expressed my exact thoughts.

“I hate to see this happening. Ruby doesn’t deserve this! It’s all Monokuma’s fault! If it weren’t for him then the 6 we’ve lost would still be here and Ruby wouldn’t be like this!”

I could hardly hold myself from crying. Rin was right, it’s all Monokuma’s fault! These killings! Ruby’s condition! It’s all his fault!

“H-hey, Chika, are you okay? You look really tense.”

Riko suddenly brought me back to myself and I realized I had clenched my fists and was shaking with frustration.

“Y-yeah, sorry, I’m just really mad at Monokuma! He’s done so much to hurt us! It’s unforgivable!”

“Y-you’re right, just make sure you direct that anger at him, not at anyone else. I couldn’t bear it if you were to do something stupid and become the blackened, so please be careful with your emotions, okay Chika?”

“Y-yeah… Of course, I’d never kill anyone! Come on, let’s go talk to some people!”

As Riko and I were about to leave we heard screaming. Ruby was being passed back from You to Dia and You came over to catch up to us. It was painful to listen to her and I couldn’t even imagine what was going through Ruby’s mind. She was probably trapped in her own body, watching as the rage disease controlled her body.

The three of us quickly left as Dia dragged Ruby off to her room, I hope the two of the them are okay.

“So, I guess we should try to be friendly with everyone again, right?”

“Yeah, that’s probably the best thing for us to do. As long as we keep talking to people we won’t have to worry about anything.”

“So it looks like we’ll be splitting up again today, right?”

“Yup, I’ll head back to see if I can keep Dia company through the door, I’m sure she wouldn’t want to spend however long with just herself and the enraged Ruby.”

“That’s a good idea Chika, I’ll probably talk to Rin and Hanayo, and Riko can go talk to Umi or Maki I guess.”

“H-hey! Don’t pick who I talk to for me! But you’re right, they’ll probably be the best ones for me to talk to.”

“Well, see you two later I guess.”

I turned and left Riko and You as I walked back towards the bedrooms, but rather than going to Dia’s door to talk to her I went into my own room, I had something that probably should be done sooner rather than later.

I pulled the drawer to my dresser out and took all the scraps of paper. Luckily it was torn up rather than shredded so it would be easier to put it together.

I sat at the desk in my room and went to work putting the note back together piece by piece. It was a bit easier than I expected and when I finished it read 5 simple words in a familiar sloppy handwriting.

_ To Chika: Watch your back. _

What was this about? Apparently Nico had found this first so she must have seen what it said. But why does it say to watch my back? Was I in danger? Did my messenger have a target on me? Or were they warning me of someone else? The last note they had left me was to beware Maki. Was she who they were telling me to watch out for? Or was it someone else? I couldn’t tell one bit.

As I was pondering the note there was a soft knock at my door.

“O-One moment!” I called out as I quickly tore the note up more than it already had been and buried it in the trash in my bathroom. When I opened the door I saw a now familiar face.

“Hey Hanayo, what’s up?”

“Um, well, I was wondering if I could come in here.”

“S-sure, why?”

Hanayo walked into my room before responding.

“I just wanted somewhere to be able to calm myself with someone else to talk to, Rin’s been talking to You more and more and of course I don’t have a problem with that, it’s just that when they talk Rin gets… loud, she’s on the edge of giving me a headache. But I still don’t want to be alone, which is why I don’t just go to my own room.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s understandable, so what do you want to talk about?”

Hanayo and I exchanged meaningless small talk but it was nice, just sitting on the edge of my bed talking about nothing in particular. I could feel our bonds growing deeper and our trust stronger. Who knew how long it would last? Either her or I could be dead tomorrow, or maybe we’ll both live to see the outside world once again. Who knows, it doesn’t matter now. Maybe it’s best to just enjoy our lives right now. We should just enjoy the life we have now instead of escaping to a life of pain as a murderer. As Hanayo and I continued our conversation I heard a knock at my door and got up to answer it.

“Oh! Nozomi, what brings you here? Did you need me for something?”

“Er, I didn’t realize you had someone else here, sorry, can you come to my room when you have time?”

“Y-yeah, sure, I can do that, I probably won’t be too long!”

“A-alright, see you soon…”

Nozomi sort of stumbled off towards her room and was muttering something under her breath. Something was off but I couldn’t tell quite what it was. Maybe she had a bad fortune come up?

“W-well, I don’t want to keep you too long, I guess I’ll go look for Rin and You again.”

“Alright, I’ll see you around Hanayo!”

Hanayo left and after a few minutes I went down towards Nozomi’s room like she asked.

As I walked I saw something a bit strange, there was a massive pile of stuff outside Dia’s room along with a sign. “This is every item in my room I think Ruby could possibly hurt me or herself with.”

Dia seemed to really care about keeping Ruby safe, even the sheets and blankets from the bed were there, probably because they could be used to strangle someone.

I looked away from the pile and turned my attention to Nozomi’s door. I knocked and shortly after it was cracked open somewhat to show Nozomi’s face.

“Hey so um, I was wondering if you could help me bring some stuff to the trash room, it’s just a lot of stuff I wanted to burn and you’re probably the person I can trust most. I would’ve asked Dia but she’s a little preoccupied with taking care of Ruby. You were the only person I could think of who may be able to help me without peeking at what’s being brought there so do you think you could help with that?”

“Y-yeah, that’s fine, I can help you with that.”

“Okay.”

Nozomi opened the door the rest of the way and there were about 20 to 30 cardboard boxes in her room.

“Oh, wow, I uh, didn’t expect this much when you said you had some stuff. Do you think there could be some kind of trolley in the Storage room?”

“There isn’t, I already checked, I don’t get why there isn’t one there, but yeah, they’re pretty heavy so if you can’t lift them don’t worry about it, I’ll just try to think of who else I can trust not to look at what’s here.”

With that, Nozomi lifted one of the boxes and I followed suit. She was definitely right about it being heavy, my arms nearly gave out under it, but I managed to keep up with her down the hall and to the trash room. She dropped the box she was carrying into the incinerator and I did the same. When I dropped mine the top of the box came open and dozens, possibly hundreds, of small pieces of paper came out and fluttered to the bottom. However as they fell, I was pretty sure I saw what was on at least one of them, but for Nozomi’s sake I decided not to say anything.

“Ah! You didn’t see what was on any of those right? Please tell me you didn’t?”

“N-no, I didn’t, don’t worry about it Nozomi! There were too many for me to see anything.”

Nozomi let out a sigh of relief as she continued.

“Alright, thank goodness, come on, let’s go bring the rest in here, but I just want you to place them next to the incinerator to avoid something like that happening again.”

The two of us went back to Nozomi’s room and continued to take the boxes to the trash room with me placing them near the incinerator rather than dropping them in myself. When we finished Nozomi shut the lid and I could hear the machine burst to life.

“So why’d you want to to burn all that?”

“It’s just stuff I didn’t want anymore, that’s all.”

“Alright, well whatever it was it’s gone now, paper wouldn’t last very long in an incinerator.”

“Yeah, all that’s left is the cardboard probably. It’s alright for you to go now Chika, thanks for the help.”

“Yeah! No problem Nozomi!”

I left the trash room and saw Maru walking out of the library with a small push cart, stacked full of books.

“So there was a trolley!”

“Zura!? Oh, it’s you Chika, w-were you looking for this? I found a lot of books I wanted to take out and had to use this to move them all, sorry if you needed it.”

“N-no, it’s ok, Nozomi and I were able to manage without it, don’t worry Maru.”

“A-Alright, I just feel like I keep making things harder for people… I’ve been useless in the trials, I made you and Nozomi have to carry whatever you were carrying rather than just pushing it on this… I’m just not helping anyone…”   
“That’s not true at all Maru! You’re really sweet and do your best at whatever you do, you’re great at keeping everyone’s spirits up despite the situation!”

“A-alright… If you say so Chika, well, I’m gonna head back to my room zura, I’ve got a bad feeling about something happening soon…”

Maru left on a rather foreboding note and I felt a chill run down my back. Maru doesn’t seem like it but her intuition is usually pretty spot on. As my mind and body wandered I found myself in the Stage and saw Mari.

“Hey Chika! What’s up?”   
“Nothing really, what are you doing in here?”

“I’m just thinking about things… I hope Dia and Ruby are okay…”   
“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be fine. I don’t think Dia would let anything happen to Ruby and even with how she is right now I’m sure Dia could keep herself from being hurt.”

“You’re right, it was kind of a stupid statement.”

Mari brushed her hand along the stage and lowered her gaze.

“Hey, is something wrong Mari? What’s on your mind?”   
“Is there anyone you miss?”

“Huh?”

“Is there anyone you wish wasn’t gone? Anyone who it upsets you that you can’t see them anymore?”

“O-of course, I wish nobody had to die, no one should have to have their lives end in a twisted situation like this.”

“I’m not asking if you’re upset about everyone dying. I want you to tell me if there’s any one person you miss more than anyone else. Is there someone who’s died or maybe someone who isn’t here who you just want to see again no matter what it takes. Someone who you would give anything to have in your arms again?”   
I could see tears forming in the corners of Mari’s eyes.

“...You’re thinking about Kanan, aren’t you.”

Mari looked down and her tears fell onto the stage floor. I jumped up onto it and positioned myself next to her in an attempt to comfort her.

“Kanan’s gone and there’s no way for her to come back. Dia’s constantly busy taking care of Ruby. Yohane’s gone too and Riko’s always off with you and You. I feel alone and abandoned... Call me selfish, call me a needy rich girl, I just need attention. I need to feel like I’m cared about… I… I just…”

Mari’s sobbing grew stronger as I sat there, trying to silently comfort her as best as I could. Time’s passing became a blur as we sat alone on the stage with the only sounds being Mari’s struggled gasps for air. Eventually she composed herself somewhat and pushed away from my shoulder.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with me like that Chika… I’ll try to be back to my normal goofy self tomorrow… Unless I end up getting the disease that is eheheh…”

“It’ll be okay Mari, if you ever need to talk I’ll be here for you. Kanan was my friend when I was younger too, I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to do anything you’d regret.”

“You’re right, thank you Chika, I’m happy you’re here.”

With that, Mari jumped off the stage and left the room. There was no point sticking around in the Stage so I left and went back in the direction of my room. As I walked I saw into the Exercise Room and saw Rin and You.

“I’m telling you, I could definitely keep up with you on a treadmill, Rin.”

“I’ve never had someone challenge me who actually may have a chance! I’d totally beat you though!”

“Hey, what’s up you two?”

“You just challenged me to a test of endurance!”

“We’re going to see who can last longer on the treadmills since there’s two of them in here.”

“Oh that seems neat! Can I watch?”   
“Yeah! You’ll have to wait until tomorrow though, it’s getting late. I wonder if Kayo-chin would want to watch too!”   
Rin ran off smiling towards her room and Riko poked her head into the Exercise room.

“What was that about? Did something happen?”

“Rin and You are having a competition of endurance tomorrow! Hanayo and I are planning on watching!”

“Oh, can I come watch too? Is that ok with you, You?”

“At this rate it seems like everyone here is going to be watching it, but yeah, it’s fine with me.”

As we spoke, a tone went off in the corner of the room, marking the end of the day.

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. It is now Nighttime, the Cafeteria, Central hall, and Exercise rooms are now off limits.”

The three of us got out of the Exercise Room and the shutters came down behind us.

“So, I guess we have something to look forward to tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but I’m also scared about who’s going to catch the disease, Hopefully it won’t be someone who would mess up tomorrow’s plans.”

“Well, there are twelve of us and five of us are going to be there, Ruby already has it so it’s almost a 50/50 chance for one of us to get it.”

“I don’t like those odds, Riko, but I’m sure we’ll be fine!”

“I’m not sure if I agree, Monokuma’s the one who decides who gets the disease each night, right? So I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to try to use the disease to split the three of us up since we’re so close.”

“Yeah, you’re right You, that does seem like something he’d do.”

“Come on you two! We’ll be fine! We’ve got plot armour!”

“Chika what does that even mean?”

“I have absolutely no idea!”

I kept trying to cheer You and Riko up as we walked to my room but they were still worried about the disease. We ended up going to sleep, although I’m not sure how well You and Riko were able to.

 

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. Nighttime is now over, I hope you all have a bea-utiful day!”

We were woken up as usual by Monokuma’s morning announcement. All three of us got up and You and Riko went to their rooms to get changed. Once we were all dressed we grouped up in the hall and were approached by Rin.

“Well I think I know who caught the disease.”

“Who is it?”

“Um, well, follow me.”   
Rin lead us down the hall to an open door and inside we saw something a bit… Strange.

“I’m queen of the castle! I’m queen of the castle!”

Maru was hiding in a fort of books, jumping up and down and cheering for herself, laughing over nothing. Then her mood did a complete 180.

“Ehh, I’m bored… I’m gonna go look at the flowers!”

Maru plowed through her book fort and ran past the four of us. From what she said I could only assume she was going to the Courtyard. Looking back into her room there were hundreds of books spilt across the floor.

“So… She’s definitely different, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that she’s the one who caught the disease last night.”

“You’re probably right Rin. Well what do we call this one? Ruby’s is the rage disease, I guess we could call Maru’s the childlike disease?”

“Yeah, I like that Riko! Easy to say and it definitely fits how she’s acting.”

“Should we have someone look after her? Like how Dia’s looking after Ruby? I guess Rin could take care of her if she doesn't mind.”   
“I don’t think she needs to be watched in the same way. Her disease is pretty harmless, especially when compared to Ruby’s.”

“I guess you’re right, We can probably leave her alone then.”

“I’ll go let Dia know that Maru’s caught the disease this time, you can go have your competition now, I’ll come watch when I’m done, you two better not be finished before I get there!”

“Of course not! Just who do you take us for Chika! I’ve gotta get Kayo-chin anyways so we probably won’t start for a little while.”

“Alright, well I’ll be there so don’t worry about me!”

“Got it, Chika, Don’t keep us waiting too long.”

The three of them walked off and I went up to Dia’s door to shout through to her.

“Hey Dia! I came to let you know who got the disease this time!”

No response.

“Oh right.”

I knocked on the door to turn off the soundproofing and was met by a lot more noise than I expected from a room that had been emptied out. There were a lot of crashing sounds like someone banging on the floor. It seemed like after waking up Ruby had immediately gone into a fit of anger. Dia was probably trying to hold her down so she wouldn’t ram into a wall and hurt herself.

“Wh-who is it? I’m a little preoccupied and you’ll have to shout!”

“It’s Chika! I just came to let you know who got the disease today! Maru got it and we’re calling it the childlike disease! I’m sure you can imagine what it’s like!”

“Alright, I understand! Do you think you could bring some food later today? Preferably something I could feed to Ruby while she’s asleep! She wasn’t able to eat in advance like me so I want her to get something in her system at the least! It doesn’t really matter how healthy it is!”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can find!”

With that I left Dia to deal with Ruby. As I walked towards the Exercise Room I was stopped by Nozomi.

“Hey Chika, did you find out who got the disease? I’ve only really seen Hanayo today so it’d be nice to know.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s Maru, we’re calling it the childlike disease, I’m guessing you can tell what it’s like.”

“Yeah, that seems pretty self explanatory.”

“If you want to see it she should be in the Courtyard, she said she wanted to go look at the flowers.”

“No, it’s ok, really, don’t worry about it Chika!”

“Alright, if you say so, hey what was in those boxes yesterday? I’ve been wondering about it, but it’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it, I’d understand.”

“No, it’s ok! What’s gone is gone so I don’t really mind talking about it now. It’s all stuff Monokuma put in my room that I didn’t really care about.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Why did Monokuma put anything in your room?”

“Wait what? Didn’t you have anything in your closet? I at least know for myself and Eli, Monokuma put stuff that was ours in our closets, I’m sure that’s where You had her swimsuit and where Yoshiko had all of her Yohane stuff.”

“I didn’t have anything at all! Is there nothing that Monokuma thought would suit me? Am I really that normal and bland?”

“I-I’m sure there was some other reason you didn’t have anything Chika, you’re far from normal. You’re probably the most important person here.”   
“What do you mean? Maki’s been saying that too but I don’t get it. I’m not doing much in the trials, they’re mostly being solved by Maki. Even in the last one it felt like most of the work was being done by Nico even though she ended up being the blackened. She led us all right to finding her as the culprit…”

“You’re right… It really hurt to see her go like that… it hurts to see everyone dying…”

“Yeah… Why can’t we all just live? Why does anyone have to kill anyone? We could just live here in peace together!”

“You’re right… I’m sad that everyone has to be dying like this…”   
“I’m sure Eli’s death must have hurt a lot for you Nozomi…”   
“Y-yeah, but everyone else has been so sad about Kanan. It’s made me feel bad to talk about her…”

“H-hey! Don’t feel bad to talk about your feelings! Even if everyone’s sad over one of the people who died that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about how you feel!”

“You’re right, but it doesn’t change anything really. I still would feel bad talking about Eli being gone when she was the one who killed Kanan…”

“Don’t be! She’d be sad to see you holding everything in like that, I’m sure Eli would want you to talk about her and make sure she’s not forgotten! We can’t forget the people who died!”

“Of course! Even if I feel bad talking about her I’d never forget her, Chika. Well, I’m gonna go back to my room, see you around.”

“Alright! I’ll see you later!”

Nozomi walked off and I started to head towards the Exercise Room. when I got there I saw Rin, Riko, and You standing around the treadmills.

“Hey, sorry I’m- Wait I’m not late? Where’s Hanayo?”

“That’s what we were just talking about, Rin couldn’t find her and she doesn’t want the two of us to start until we find her, which I can understand.”

“Maybe we should all split up and search for Kayo-chin, I’m starting to get worried about her.”

“Yeah, we should, Chika can take the Stage, Courtyard and Pool, Rin you can take the central hall, You take the north hall, and I’ll take the rooms and Commons Area.”

“I was talking to Nozomi before and she said she saw Hanayo so she’s definitely safe.”

“Alright! That’s reassuring! We’ll look over the whole building until we find Kayo-chin! I checked her room, the Cafeteria, and the Courtyard so I’m not sure she’ll be in any of those places unless I had missed her in the halls or something.”   
“Alright then, let’s find Hanayo!”

With my declaration of our search, the other three girls all left to look in the places Riko told us to. I checked the Stage first and didn’t see her anywhere. She wasn’t backstage, she wasn’t in the soundroom, she wasn’t anywhere in there, so I moved on to the Courtyard.

This time the search went a lot faster.

She was sitting on a bench with Maru laying next to her, asleep. Maru’s head was in Hanayo’s lap.

“There you are Hanayo!”

“Huh? Oh, hi Chika, did you need me?”

“You know, I’ve noticed you’ve been stuttering a lot less lately, have you been getting comfortable with the rest of us?”

“You’re right… I guess I have been.”

“So, what’s up? When did you get here?”

“Well when I woke up I saw Rin talking to you, You, and Riko, and decided to let you all do your thing today. I took a shower then went to eat something. Rin was in the cafeteria and she left at the same time I went in. Then I came here and found Hanamaru playing in the flowers. I guess she got the disease this time?”   
“Yeah, we decided to call it the childlike disease, she had a book fort in her room this morning too.”

“Huh, well, what were you looking for me for? Was it just to talk?”

“Oh! Right! Rin was looking for you! Rin and You are going to have an endurance competition in the exercise room and Rin wants you to come cheer her on!”

“R-really? She was looking for me?”

“Of course! She was scared when she couldn’t find you so we postponed the competition until you were found!”

“Well, we should probably go tell the others that I’m here.”

“Oh yeah, that’d probably be a good idea.”

Hanayo carefully lifted Maru’s head to avoid waking her up then placed it back on the bench and we went to let the others know that we found Hanayo.

 

“Yay! I was worried Kayo-chin! I’m happy you’re okay!”

Rin was hugging Hanayo and jumping up and down with excitement.

“Alright! Let’s do this You! With Kayo-chin here there’s no way I’ll lose!”

“Hey! I have twice the number of cheerleaders here, and I wouldn’t put me down too easily if I were you!”

“Alright, let’s go over the rules of this then, you can’t use the handrails to hold yourselves up and you’ll both be going at 9 km/h. The first person to either fall or give up loses! No trying to mess up the other person but talking to them is ok, just don’t push each other or anything, that makes sense, right? Are you two ready?”

“Of course Riko, I won’t let you down!”

“Nyahaha! I won’t lose to you, You!”

“Okay, 3, 2, 1, Go!”

As she said go, Rin and You both pressed the start buttons and their treadmills started to turn. Time went on and the three of us cheered the two of them on. An hour. Two hours. Three hours. They both managed to keep going. Around the fifth hour, the two of them were both starting to show the wear of jogging for so long.

“I’m… impressed you’re still going… Rin.”

“Nyaha… ha… this is... nothing! I could… keep going... for hours…”

Just a few moments later the two of them simultaneously stepped back, off the treadmills, and dropped backwards onto the floor.

“Well then… I guess that makes... this a tie… We’ll have to settle this… another way… Won’t we Rin?”

“Y-yeah… I didn’t expect you to have so much endurance… You…”

Hanayo gave the both of them water and they both downed the bottles almost instantly.

“Well, I guess we know one thing now, the two of you are definitely equals in endurance!”

“Yeah, you’re right Hanayo, but I’m sure You would win in a swimming competition! She’s been the best swimmer I’ve known since we were kids!”

“W-well… I’m sure she would win... even if she weren’t such a good swimmer… I’m not really the biggest fan of it… I prefer staying out of the water...”

“Hm? Why’s that?”

“I’m just better with running… and other land sports… Being in the water isn’t as fun to me…”

“She says that but she’s still pretty good at swimming too, not anywhere near You’s level but she’s still not bad by any means.”

“Does she like recreational swimming or does she not like that either?”

“Y-yeah… I still like to swim… for fun, Riko… I just don’t like to compete in it as much…”

“Well, it’s 5 now, maybe we should go eat something?”   
“Oh! That’s right! Dia asked me to bring her something she could feed to Ruby, I’ve gotta go do that! I’ll see you all later!”

With that I ran off to the Kitchen and looked for something Dia could give to Ruby while she slept. I eventually decided on pudding since there didn’t seem to be much else that could be fed to someone who was asleep and wasn’t hot or too fatty.

I took the pudding to Dia’s door and knocked. Unlike this morning it was quiet, and Dia opened the door.

“Hey Chika, you brought the food! Thanks.”

“Of course, Ruby doesn’t deserve any of this, I don’t want to say I want anyone to die but I don’t want her to have to suffer like this any longer. It’s sad to see someone so sweet reduced to such a rabid beast…”   
“I agree, if only there were some other way to cure this… But if we can’t find a cure ourselves then the only way to save her is to wait until someone dies… And that means we would have to wait for someone here to become a killer…”

Dia could hardly choke out the last word and I could understand. It was an awful word, I hated it, I never wanted to hear it again. But I knew I would have to eventually. I knew and I hated knowing. I wished I could just forget everything that’s happened in this hotel. Forget everything that’s resulted in the deaths of those I care about and bring them back. But I knew it couldn’t happen, these memories would eat away at me and last until the day I died, and with our current situation who knew how soon that could be.

“Well Chika, I’ll go feed Ruby now. Can you come by tomorrow and tell me who gets the disease like you did this morning?”

“Yeah! Of course! I wouldn’t want you out of the loop just because you’re stuck in your room, you deserve to know what’s going on just as much as the rest of us!”

“Thanks Chika, I’ll see you tomorrow then, or I guess probably just talk to you.”   
“Yeah, talk to you then!”

Dia shut the door and I turned back off down the hall, and as I turned, the door at the end of the hall opened and Maki came through it with about 5 books and a bin full of medicine in her arms.

“Hey Chika! I’m lucky you’re here, do you think you can hold this while I scan my Monobook?”

“Yeah sure!”

I took everything Maki was holding as she unlocked her door.

“What is all of this? Were you planning to do a little more looking into everything here until nighttime started?”

“Hm? No, I finished all of that, I have a list of everything so if you ever need medicine just let me know. What I was planning on doing was more research into Monokuma’s disease to see if I could at least cure Ruby before a killing happens. I don’t think it’s likely but if I can do anything to help I’ll try!”

Maki’s voice sounded so earnest. I started to wonder more and more how my mysterious messenger as well as Maru could think she was dangerous.

“That’s really awesome of you Maki! Ruby’s case is really painful… I don’t want her to have to suffer so if you could cure her somehow that would be amazing!”

“Eh? Well you don’t have to praise me that much, if you were the most knowledgeable person in medicine in here you’d try the same, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but you said yourself, this disease is really different from anything you’ve seen before! So for you to try to fix something you made sound so abnormal, it’s really impressive!”

“If you say so… I can take all of that back now.”   
“Oh, right, here you go.”   
I handed everything Maki had brought back to her and she walked into her room, shutting her door behind herself.

Not knowing what else to do I decided to look for and check on Maru. The last place I had seen her was in the courtyard so maybe she was still there.

While I walked I was proven wrong by her voice coming from the Cafeteria.

“Come on Mari! Play with me! Play with me!”

“No Maru, it’s almost nighttime, I was just getting something to eat before the announcement, now leave me alone. Hey! There’s Chika, she can play with you!”

“Huh? Will you Chika? Come one! Play with me! Play with me zura!”

“Eh? W-well, I guess I can play with you, what do you want to play?”

“Hmm… I dunno. I was hoping you’d know what to play.”   
“W-well, um…”

As I thought about what we could do I was quite literally saved by the bell.

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. It is now Nighttime, the Cafeteria, Central hall, and Exercise rooms are now off limits.”

“Aw… I guess we can’t play… Well, we can play tomorrow!”

“I’m surprised you have a sense of how important nighttime is with how you are now Maru.”

“Of course I do Mari! If I ignored nighttime then Monokuma would kill me and if I’m dead I can’t play and have fun!”

Even when she’s like this, Maru’s one of the most sensible people here. I don’t know if that’s a compliment to her or an insult to the rest of us.

“Well, you’re right Maru, we can play tomorrow! I’ll probably be able to think of something we can play by then!”

“Yay! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“I look forward to it!”

Maru ran off down the hall and Mari went into her own room. As I stood there I heard the door open behind me and You and Riko came into the hall.

“Hey Chika, I’m exhausted from today, open the door already because I’m just about ready to pass out.”

“Heheh, alright You, you were really cool today, I’m surprised the two of you were able to keep going for so long!”

“And I’m surprised I’ve managed not to pass out, could you please open the door Chika.”

“Oh, right.”   
I scanned my Monobook and walked in. You and Riko followed behind me and You plowed straight into my bed. I got in beside her and Riko laid to my left. I wonder who’ll have the disease tomorrow, and what their disease will do. I guess I’ll find out then.

 

“This is an important Hotel bulletin. Nighttime is now over, I hope you all have a bea-utiful day!”

I woke up and something didn’t quite feel right, I didn’t know quite why I felt like I did but I didn’t put much thought into it. I opened my eyes and heard Riko yawning and stretching to my right, as well as seeing You slowly waking up to my left. As had become our routine, the two of them left to get dressed and I dressed myself in my own room. The two of them were waiting outside my door for me and Riko was the first to talk to me.

“So, I guess we should look for who’s caught the disease now, right?”

As she said this I saw Hanayo running up to us from down the hall.

“Hey you three! Have you figured out who’s caught the disease yet?”   
“No, we were just about to look for who it was, it doesn’t seem like it’s me, you, You, or Chika, maybe we should start with Hanayo.”   
“Huh? You? Are you ok? This is Hanayo, isn’t it? And why’d you say yourself twice?”

“Ch-chika? What do you mean? This is R-”

Suddenly Hanayo pulled You’s arm and whispered something I couldn’t hear into her ear. While this happened Riko just sort of stared at me with her head tilted.

“Er, y-yeah, um, Hey Chika, why don’t you go back to sleep? I think you may still be a little tired.”   
“Huh? Why You? I want to figure out who caught the disease! I promised Dia I’d tell her about it today!”

“Um, well, I can handle that for you, don’t worry Chika!”

“Are you sure You? If anyone should be tired it should be you, shouldn’t it?”

“Nope! I’m fine! Don’t worry about me! Just go lay down for another few hours, alright?”

“I-If you insist… You’re acting really weird though, and tell me who has the disease when I wake up!”

“Er, alright, I can do that for you Chika, totally!”

I decided to listen to You and go back to sleep. Riko was still staring at me as if she was trying to look inside me, I don’t know what’s wrong with everyone, oh well, maybe it’ll all be fixed when I wake up.

 

I woke up feeling worse than when I had gone to sleep. Maybe I should go get some fresh air in the Courtyard.

On my way there I didn’t see a single person. It was almost unsettling. I turned the corner to the courtyard and everything started to blow up in my face.

_ Literally. _

There was a loud sound, a bright light, and a wave of energy to my right, so strong that I felt myself get blown back and I crashed into a wall, falling into a lump on the ground. My vision was white and there was a ringing in my ears. I could barely hear something being said and I recognized the voice as Monokuma’s.

“There has… explosion… Courtyard. There… fire… sleeping gas… put out… You’ll wake up… your rooms… the disease… cured… Upupupupu…”   
And then I blacked out.

 

I woke up for the third time in one day.

My head was fuzzy and nothing made sense.

_ What happened? _

I got up and walked to my door. When I went outside I looked down the hall and all the other girls came out of theirs at the same time. I made a quick head count. 1, 2, 3, 4. Before I could finish there was a blur of red that ran past me. 5, 6, 7, 8. Then there was a blur of black. 9, 10, 11. 11. Including myself, the others in the hall, and the two that ran past me, there were 11 people.

Oh no.

Before I could mentally think to do it I had taken off sprinting after the two who had gone ahead. I saw someone turning the corner to the East Hall and I heard many pairs of feet behind me. 

Oh no, oh no, oh no. 

I turned onto the east hall and saw the two other girls passing the Central Hall.

The Courtyard.

They were going to the Courtyard.

I had almost caught up when I heard the most terrifying sound I could imagine.

Ruby’s shriek was bloodcurdling. It was a shriek of absolute horror. I turned the corner to see the Courtyard and its entrance. Dia was trying to pull Ruby away but it was too late. She had already witnessed this awful, horrid, stomach wrenching scene.

Blood was absolutely everywhere. Even somewhere as big as the Courtyard was absolutely soaked. There wasn’t a single tree, a single flowerbed, a single wall that was clean of it. It made me want to throw up. And where I was unable to, Ruby succeeded. I couldn’t blame her. This was awful. Before I could look at anything other than the blood, the dreaded tone was emitted from the speakers to my right.

“Ding. Ding. Ding. Dong.”

No. No. No. This can’t be real.

“A body has been discovered. After a period of time a trial will be held.”

Whoever this was, it was someone who was staying here with us. Who was It. Who was missing from the group. I turned around and looked for who was missing.

Dia, Ruby, Umi, You, Riko, Rin, Hanayo, Mari, Nozomi, Maki.

No. No no no no no no.

That blood. Everything that soaked the Courtyard.

It was Maru.

Someone did _ that _ to Maru.

Suddenly there were 11 dings from everyone getting a notification on their Monobooks. I opened mine to see that exactly what I had realized was true.

 

**Monokuma Special Bulletin**

Monokuma File #4

The victim was Hanamaru Kunikida.

The body was found in the Courtyard.

Time of death: approximately 10:30 AM

The victim was found blown up and unidentifiable.

 

Maru was gone.

In such an awful way.

One of the 11 of us was the one who did this to her.

It was awful.

Ruby was still shaking and her screaming had turned into sobbing. Dia was trying her best to comfort her but it was pointless. Ruby was too broken. Her best friend was blown up into an unrecognizable state.

“How could someone do this…”

Rin was the one to voice what everyone thought. This was too much. Nobody could have done something so cruel. I refused to believe it. But at the same time I had to.

“How are we... supposed to investigate... a killing like this…”

“There’s no way this can be allowed…”

“How can somebody be so cruel...”

Everyone’s words were accurate. This was too much, there’s no way we can investigate this. But we need to do it somehow, I had to step forward and help everyone push through this tragedy.

“Come on everyone, we can do it, let’s just split up the same way as last time, the ones with weaker stomachs can go somewhere else so they’re don’t have to do any of this. Dia, you go with them so you can comfort Ruby.”

“Chika…”

“Come on You, if we don’t find the person who killed her then we’ll all die, we have to do this, no matter how much it hurts.”

“Sh-she’s right, no matter how awful this is we have to find who was twisted enough to do something like this.”

“Th-thank you Maki… We have to figure this out. We can’t let the person who did this get away with it! So come on everyone. We need to push through this and find the person who killed Maru is such an awful way!”

Everyone sort of nodded in agreement. I somehow managed to convince everyone, even myself, that this was what we had to do. No matter what happens, we can’t let a killer get away with their crime. It’s our duty to stop them.

“Alright then, I’ll take Ruby with me of course but is there anyone else who can’t handle this? Maki sat out of the investigation last time because she was holed up in her room but she seems like she’ll be willing to help this time. The others who sat out then were Rin and Pana, come join me in the Cafeteria if you’d like. Ruby and I need to eat something.”

Dia left with Ruby in her arms. I felt bad for her. First she was turned into some kind of beast as the first victim of Monokuma’s disease, and now her best friend was killed in such an awful way…

“Come on Rin, let’s go-”

“No.”

“H-huh? R-Rin?”   
“I’m going to help in this investigation! I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I were to do absolutely nothing for three of them in a row!”

“Rin I-”

“It’s ok if you sit out of this one Kayo-chin, it’s awful, but I won’t keep sitting around while everyone’s lives are at stake! I couldn’t just sit here and rely on everyone else to solve the case! If they were to get it wrong then you, me, and everyone else who’s innocent would be killed!”

“A-Alright… I understand Rin. Do your best! For me!”

Hanayo walked off and Rin turned back to the scene.

Maki was the one to finally initiate the investigation.

“So. Let’s begin, shall we?”

There wasn’t exactly a body to start with so instead I looked around really for the first time to see many larger objects littering the Courtyard as well as the hall outside it. Probably debris from the explosion. The most notable thing was a blood soaked sword embedded in the wall of the hallway. Right above where I had been knocked by the explosion.

“Well that’s a bit terrifying, I could have died right there.”

“Hm? What do you mean Chika?”   
“Oh, Umi, well when the explosion happened I was actually coming to the Courtyard to get some fresh air. You told me to go to sleep after everyone was acting really weird and I still felt off after I woke up, so I came here and was knocked back to the wall right below where that sword is.”

“Wait, you were HERE when Maru was blown up?”

“Y-yeah… I guess I was. That makes twice now I’ve been in close proximity to a killing as it happened… First when Kanan died, now Maru’s too…”

“That explains the person shaped spot under the sword, but what about your clothes? Why isn’t there any blood on them?”

“Huh?”   
I looked down and she was right. There wasn’t a single drop of blood on me.

“Hey! This isn’t even the same outfit I put on this morning! How’d that happen!”

“Does that mean when we were all put to sleep Monokuma cleaned you off and changed your clothes?”

“Agh! I don’t even want to think of that, for him to be changing my clothes and bathing me, it’s disgusting!”

“Y-yeah, you’re right, that bear really is absolutely disgusting, isn’t he…”   
I shuddered as the thought stuck in my mind. But then another question came into my mind.

“Hey Umi, what do you mean ‘when we were all put to sleep’?”

“Huh? Didn’t you hear Monokuma’s announcement after the explosion?”   
“Not really, I was kind of busy crumpled in a ball and almost deafened by the blast.”

“Oh right, well he said ‘There has been an explosion in the Courtyard. There is a fire as a result. I’m pumping sleeping gas throughout the hotel so you’ll all be able to be moved to safety until it’s put out. You’ll wake up in your rooms. Those with the disease will have it cured. I’m sure you can guess what that means. Upupupupu.’ That message went out at 11 and I checked my clock when we woke up, it was noon, so we were out for an hour.”

“Huh, that’s some nice information to have, thanks for the help Umi!”

“Of course Chika, if you have any other questions I’d be happy to answer!”

I turned my attention back inside the Courtyard and saw Maki crouched down at a point where there didn’t seem to be any blood.

“What are you looking at there Maki?”

“Well, there’s no blood here so it’s an obvious spot to catch my attention, and if you look here,” She pointed at a dark ring near where the blood started. “It’s clear this is where the explosion originated, there’s a ring of ash so it’s the most likely conclusion.”

“Ok, that makes sense, so the explosion came from this spot in the middle of the path and there’s less blood that way. What does that mean?”

“Well, I assume it means that if the explosion was there, Maru was right about, here.”

Maki stood just a little off from the center of the ring in a way such that that if you drew a line from the center to the entrance of the courtyard she would be on that line.

“Based on how much blood is in the direction of the hall and in the opposite direction as well, I’m guessing Maru was crouched on the floor or something, she was definitely low to the ground at least.”

“Alright, I’m not sure how useful that’ll be but I’m sure it means something!”

“There’s actually one more thing about this ring of ash, different explosives leave different patterns with their ash, like a fingerprint for bombs. I’m sure I saw a book about it in the Library so if I were to compare this with the examples in that book I’m sure I could find out exactly what was used as an explosive. Luckily this was a type that left ash so it shouldn’t be too hard to identify it.”

“That’s great! If we can figure out what caused the explosion then we may be able to narrow down the killer somehow!”

“I’m not sure about that, but it’d be nice information to have nonetheless. I’ll go look for the book, you continue investigating here.”   
Maki left the Courtyard and I went back to investigating what I could.

“Oh! You! Riko! I probably should’ve asked this first but who had the disease today? What was it?”

“Wait Chika, you mean you couldn’t tell?”   
“Huh? What do you mean You?”

“Chika, you were the one who had it, we called it the mix-up disease because you were mixing up who people were. You thought I was Riko, Riko was me, and Rin was Hanayo. We’re not sure about anyone else since we’re not sure if you saw anyone else.”

“No, you three were the only ones I saw before the explosion. I had no idea I had the disease, now I feel like an idiot, that’s so obvious now.”   
“Well, you’re fine now, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”   
“Yeah, let’s just keep investigating to find out who killed Maru.”   
I looked back to the Courtyard but with all the blood everywhere there really wasn’t much else to look at.

“Hey! Chika!”

“Huh? Rin? What is it? Did you find something?”

“Yeah, over here, I’m not sure if it means anything but I found something in the blood.”   
“Really? What is it?”

“I think it’s hair, it’s probably not important but anything could help, right?”

“Yeah! You’re right! We need to keep track of every detail. You never know when it’ll be important!”

“Hey you two, what did you find?”   
“Oh, Hey Nozomi! I found this hair and decided to tell Chika since it may be a clue! There’s not very much of it though.”   
“Well, if it’s hair wouldn’t it make sense that it’s Hanamaru’s? If she was blown up then of course every bit of her body would be here somewhere, including her hair.”   
“Yeah… I guess you’re right… This doesn’t mean anything after all…”   
“Well, we don’t know that for sure. It could be someone else’s, but it would make the most sense to be hers. We can’t tell since it’s soaked in blood after all. I say you should still keep it in mind, alright Rin?”

“Alright! I will Nozomi, even if it’s probably useless, you’re right! It could end up being really important!”

The last person I had yet to talk to in the Courtyard was Mari. Maybe I should hear her suspicions.

“Hey Mari, so who do you think could be the killer? We don’t really have much to go off here.”

“Well, do you want my honest thoughts, Chika?”

“Just tell me what you think Mari, don’t hold back, it’s important to know the general first impression before the trial even starts.”

“You’re right, I heard you talking with Umi before, as well as your conversation with You and Riko. So you had no idea you had the disease, right?”

“No, none at all.”

“And you also came here just before the explosion, right?”

“Yeah, you can see the spot I was blasted into by my outline in the blood.”

“Well, what if we were wrong about what the effects of your disease were, isn’t it possible that your disease caused you not to realize that you blew up Maru? You told me to be honest, and my honest thought is that you could probably have been the killer without realizing you were killing her.”

“What? That doesn’t even make sense! The explosion happened just as I turned the corner, there’s no way I could have set it up!”

“Like I said, it’s possible that thanks to the disease you had no idea you were killing her. Besides, if it weren’t you then that would mean the killer wouldn’t have had the disease, right? Only three people caught the disease. There was Ruby, Maru, who was the victim, and you. Ruby was with Dia the entire time she had it so assuming the killer had the disease that would mean it had to be you, wouldn’t it?”

“B-but Mari! How could you think I killed Maru?”   
“Chika aren’t you listening to me?!” Mari was starting to tear up. “I don’t want to be right… I don’t want anyone else I care about to die, I’ve already lost Kanan and Yohane, and now Maru’s gone too... I want to be wrong, I want you to prove me wrong, please, show everyone the real killer! If we vote the wrong person then everyone else will die!”

“Mari... I’m-”

“That’s why I want you to point us in the right direction. We’ve never once been right about our first suspect. That’s why I’m choosing to believe in you. I want to believe in everyone. I’ll believe in everyone until I’m the only one who believes in them. I didn’t want to vote for Nico, I didn’t want to vote for Eli, I didn’t want to vote for Kotori, but I did. I voted for them because if I didn’t then everyone else would have died and I would never be happy with everyone else I care about dying just for one of them to live. That’s why I’ll still target you in the trial, and I’m putting my trust in you to convince me that it was impossible for you to be the killer. So please, don’t let me down Chika, prove that there was someone who killed her without having the disease.”

Mari left before I could even respond. I felt awful, but invigorated at the same time. She was right. It’s my duty to find who killed Maru and point everyone in the direction of survival. We can’t all die here. I need to do my best to ensure everyone’s survival, no matter the cost.

I decided to end my search in the Courtyard and move into the Pool. There wasn’t much, but due to where the the explosion was some of the blood was able to get into the area around it, and enough had made it into the pool for it to be impossible to see the bottom.

Simply looking around I wasn’t able to find anything and there was nothing I could see in the pool. I was about to leave but was stopped by You.

“Hey, Chika, I want you to stay here for a minute.”

“Huh? Why?”

Before responding, You ran past me and jumped straight into the pool. A few moments later she resurfaced.

“There’s definitely something down there, Help me out so I can jump in again.”

I pulled You out of the pool and she made a second running dive, landing where I assume she saw something.

When she resurfaced I could see something in her hands.

“Here you go!”

You handed me what looked like a rope, and was indeed a rope, or I guess you could also call it a cable since it was metal. I pulled her back up and out of the pool and she lay back to catch her breath.

“Well You, you’ll probably have to change your clothes before the trial now.”

“Yeah, I guess I will, but at least we found another potential clue.”

“You’re right, what was this even doing down there? And why did you decide to jump down there?”

“Well think about it. If I were to kill someone where would I hide evidence? The bloody pool where most people would be too grossed out to look in.”

“I guess it makes sense when you put it that way…”

“Well, I feel like I’ve been about as useful as I’ll be, good luck on the investigation Chika! I’m gonna go take a shower and get changed.”

You got up and left. After looking around one last time I decided I was done as well and went back out into the Courtyard.

Most of the people who were here before had left. I’m not sure if it was to investigate the rest of the building or just to get away from this awful sight. The only ones who were left were Rin, who was still looking around in the blood for anything that could be hidden in it, and Maki, who was crouched in the clean spot, looking at the stain of ash on the pavement with a book in her hands.

“Hey Rin, have you found anything else?”

“Not really, there’s just blood, blood, and more blood. It’s starting to make my head hurt looking at it all.”

“Y-yeah, that’s understandable. Maybe you could look for clues somewhere else?”

“No! We have everyone except you, me, and Maki looking in the rest of the hotel and you looked like you were about to leave, so I’m gonna stay here and keep looking!”

“A-alright Rin, if that’s what you want to do I won’t stop you. Just don’t stay here if you start to feel uncomfortable!”

“Alright, I won’t stay if I can’t handle it Chika, good luck on your search!”

“Yeah! You too Rin!”

Rin turned back to look around the Courtyard and I left Maki to continue her comparisons on her own, leaving to investigate the rest of the building.

First I went into the Central Hall and saw a door that was open. In the garbage room was Umi, looking into the incinerator.

“Heya Umi! See anything interesting in there?”

“Well there’s a lot of ash, I can’t see anything else really, although there is something I’m curious about.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Well I may as well just ask the one who would know. Hey! Monokuma!”

Upon his name being shouted, the bear came out from behind the machine.

“Hm? What is it Sonada?”

“How often does the incinerator get emptied? Is it every night?”

“Huh? Why would I take the time to clean it every night! Anything burnt stays there until a trial happens.”

“Well, I guess that would make sense if you’re trying to conserve energy. These trials have sadly been happening often enough that it’s yet to be an issue.”

“Well it’s nice to see that someone appreciates my skill in management and conservation! Well, if you don’t need anything else then I’ll be going.”

Monokuma left us alone once again and Umi looked back into the incinerator.

“I wonder what someone was burning… It had to be big…”

“Oh, I know that, Nozomi was burning a lot of stuff she didn’t need, apparently it was stuff Monokuma had left in her closet.”

“Oh, that makes sense, mine had all of my archery equipment, not like there’s anywhere that would be safe for me to use it. He likely intended for me to use it as a murder weapon, as if it couldn’t be more obvious who the culprit was if I did.”

“So it’s true, he really did leave something for everyone but myself… There really isn’t anything interesting about me!”

“What? That’s not true at all! You’re a very strong leader, Chika, even if you don’t realize it yourself. Although that is odd that he wouldn’t leave anything for you…”

Umi left, mumbling to herself about how strange it was for my closet to be empty.

I looked into the incinerator myself and saw the pile of ash that Nozomi’s stuff had left. It was pretty big but for some reason it seemed smaller than it should’ve been. Maybe Nozomi hadn’t burnt everything I brought? Or maybe I just don’t know what size a pile of ash should be. Probably the latter.

When I left the Garbage Room I decided the obvious next place to look was in the Storage.

Inside was Nozomi, who looked like she was trying hard to think of something but couldn’t quite find it.

“Hey Nozomi, what are you thinking about?”

“Huh? Oh, hey Chika, I feel like there’s definitely something missing here but I can’t put my finger on what. Something’s definitely off in here though!”

“You’re right… I feel like something’s missing… It’s probably that whatever was used to kill Maru was taken from here then!”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that… If only there was a way for us to just know what this place looked like 24 hours ago… Then we’d easily know what was gone.”

“I know! Why not ask your cards! They can probably help!”

“Chika I already told you this, my cards aren’t a cure-all for whatever problem you have. They can’t tell you something like that.”

“Yeah… You’re right, it was worth a shot to ask though!”

“Well you’re not wrong, but again, they can only tell fortunes, not read the future or past. They tell you what may happen to you but nothing is ever definite with them. For example if I read your fortune and it said you would become rich, you’d become pretty excited for the money, right?”

“Well yeah, I guess I would.”

“But if you got excited for that and expected it, then don’t you think you’d try less to make that money? And since you wouldn’t be trying to make the money you would never get it and the fortune wouldn’t come true. Fortunes never can tell you facts, only likely scenarios. Any fortune, both good and bad can be changed by outside forces. That’s why I have a policy not to ever tell anyone a fortune about themselves unless it’s one I was requested to read.”

“What about when you told Maki to tell me not to sleep in my room?”   
“Well, I take loopholes on my own policy sometimes. Afterall, you’re the most important one here and if you’d died then we’d be in quite a bit of trouble, wouldn’t we?”

“I still don’t believe you or Maki when you say I’m important but we need to get back to the investigation. So we’re pretty sure something’s missing but we don’t know what it could be?”

“Yup, we can only guess what was taken at this point but it had to be pretty big, probably what was used to kill Maru.”

“Well, I guess I’ll go look around some more, I’ll see you at the trial.”

“Yeah, see you then, good luck.”

I walked out of the Storage room and walked back down the hall. Library, nothing, Laundry room, nothing, Closet, nothing, Medicine room, nothing, and Restrooms, nothing. I continued along the hall to the North Hall.

As I passed I saw Riko and Hanayo in the Exercise Room.

“Hey, what are you two doing in here?”   
“Well, there’s a barbell on the floor here, and there’s a lot of weight on it. I’m not sure even Rin or You could lift this much.”

“Y-yeah, it’s a lot of weight, it’s 50kg on each side, Rin’s limit is 60 kg total, although I don’t know You’s… There’s definitely no way Rin could lift this though...”

“Well I haven’t seen You bench press in a long time… Kanan’s been going with her to the gym more in the last few years so You hasn’t needed me, but I think her limit is about the same, maybe higher, but definitely not 100kg!”

“Now that you mention it I don’t think I’ve ever seen You lift weights… She doesn’t really do it much considering how much she seems to enjoy it…”

“Well Riko, if you want to see her lift that much then I’m sure we could convince her to do it for you!”

“N-no! It’s fine! W-we need to focus on investigating for now!”

“Hehehe, you’re red Riko! But you’re right, we need to focus on finding the culprit so we can keep on living. We can’t let whoever did this get away with their crime.”

“Alright, so what could this barbell even mean? It wasn’t here when Rin and You had their competition, and there’s not a single person who could lift this much in the hotel…”

Suddenly there was another voice behind me.

“What are you looking at?”   
“Huh? Rin? I thought you said you wanted to keep investigating the Courtyard? Why’d you come down here?”

“Well I was looking around and Maki told me to leave because I was bothering her…”

“I-I’m sure you were fine Rin! Maki was probably just trying to focus, I’m sure anyone would have been bothering her!”

“Mhm! You’re right Kayo-chin! I’m sure she didn’t mean anything against me!”

“Well, Rin, we were talking about this barbell. It has 100 kg on it and we’re pretty sure there’s not a single person who could lift this, even you or You.”

“Hmm… you’re right Riko, there’s no way I could lift that. But I wonder…”

Rin took the discs of weight off the bar and placed it on the bench. She then put the weights back on, and it was in position to be lifted.

“R-Rin you couldn’t be thinking of trying to lift that!”

“Of course not Kayo-chin! You’re going to!”

“R-Rin? What are you expecting Hanayo to do? She’s probably one of the physically weakest ones here alongside Ruby! There’s no way she could press that much weight!”

“Of course she can’t!”

“Then why are you asking her to try? If you want one of us to try to lift it it should be you, me or Riko! But definitely not Hanayo!”

“No! We’re trying to investigate so I’m trying to prove that anyone could have lifted this!”

“But you can’t so why would anyone else be able to!”

“That’s not what I mean! What I want to see isn’t if she could lift it up! I want to see if she could get it off the bench at all!”

“What do you-”

“Alright, I think I get what you mean Rin… I’ll try my best to get it off of there! Everyone please stand back incase it falls on you.”

Riko and I stepped away from the bench, fairly confused, but Hanayo stood behind the bench where a spotter would be.

She bent down below the bar and pushed up to try to get it over the lip that usually held it in place. Surprisingly, she managed after a bit of a struggle to get the bar up and it fell forward, onto the bench and then onto the floor.

“HANAYO HOW DID YOU- ARE YOU SECRETLY SUPER STRONG?”

“N-no… You’re right about me being one of the weakest here. Pretty much anyone can lift a barbell at this weight over the bar if they put their whole body into it… You two can try if you want to…”

“A-Alright… I guess I can try too.”

Rin set the bar back up and Riko tried as well, having a little bit less trouble than Hanayo. The barbell fell onto the bench and then onto the floor just as it had when Hanayo had done the same thing.

“See! Anyone could have lifted a barbell with that much weight enough to make it drop onto the ground!”

“You’re right Rin! Anyone could have put that there!”

“But it’s still not helpful at all… All I’ve done is find stuff unrelated to the killing… The hair was Maru’s so that doesn’t help and the barbell has nothing to do with Maru’s death. She was killed with an explosion, and this barbell could have had the weight put on while it was on the floor already. It was next to the bench and when you two pushed it off it went to the front so it probably wasn’t even pushed in the first place…”

“Th-That’s not right Rin! You were super useful!”

“Th-Thanks for trying to cheer me up Kayo-chin, I still don’t believe it though. I’ve just been moving along with everyone else doing all the work. Chika and Maki always do the investigating then Maki, Nozomi, Chika, and Nico kept doing everything in the trials.”

“Alright well even if you haven’t found much to do in the past trials you’ve been a great help in this investigation! I think you’re right that the way the barbell fell means it’s not related, but I still have a feeling in my gut that the hair has to mean something! And nobody but you would have noticed that hair!”

“I still don’t believe you Chika, until I do something useful and important I won’t believe any of you!”

“Alright then, let’s make a deal Rin!”

“W-What do you mean? What kind of deal?”

“If this hair helps us find the killer or confirm that someone can’t be the killer then you have to stop saying all these self deprecating things!”

“A-Alright, I can agree to that I gue-”

“Great! I’ll see you at the trial then!”

I turned and ran out of the Exercise Room before Rin could say anything else. I don’t want to hear her say anything else negative about herself. That’s why I’m going to find the culprit using that hair as evidence! I don’t want anyone to have to feel bad about themselves here! I just want everyone to be happy so we can all live together without any more killings.

With my sense of purpose reinvigorated I walked up to the Cafeteria and held myself back. I know the mood in there will be a lot more dispirited with Dia and Ruby mourning over Maru. It would be awful of me to just burst in there in an energetic mood, especially when I’m trying to get as much information out of them as possible.

Once I calmed myself down I walked into the Cafeteria where I saw Dia and Mari sitting next to Ruby. Dia was trying to feed Ruby but Ruby had her head in her arms. I could tell she had cried herself dry as she was only letting out the occasional sob.

I walked up to the three of them and sat across from Ruby, placing my hand on her head. Dia immediately reeled back but Ruby just looked up at me. I gave her a half smile as I started to speak, hoping my honestly weak attempt to cheer her up would work well enough that she could answer me.

“H-hey, Ruby, do you think I could ask you a few questions that I’m not sure anyone but you could answer?”

She picked her arms up and wiped her eyes before giving me a more determined answer than I expected.

“Of course! Ask as many questions as you need to if they’ll help us find who did this to Maru!”

Dia and Mari both looked surprised by Ruby’s sudden shift in attitude but I just smiled at her as I began to ask what I was most curious about.

“Well, Ruby, I’ve been wondering for awhile but were you aware you had the disease? I had no idea I had it until I was told but your rage disease was a lot more noticeable than the mix-up disease.”

“Um, well, I don’t know how to describe it but I guess I didn’t know right away. All I knew was something was off. I didn’t know what was wrong until my body flung itself forward without any control.”

“I think I know what you mean! I had a weird feeling of something not being quite right when I woke up too! Do you think it was the same?”   
“Maybe! It’s not like it matters though, you, me, and Maru were the only ones to get the disease…”

“Wait, how’d you know Maru had the disease? Did someone tell you?”

“W-well, even though I couldn’t respond or anything I could hear you and sis talking through the door when I wasn’t asleep. I heard you telling her about Maru and how she had the child-like disease.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense actually. Thanks for answering my questions Ruby!”

“If it’ll help you find the culprit I’ll answer any questions you have Chika! I… I can’t let whoever did this get away with it!”

Ruby was starting to tear up again, but these weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of her determination. All she wants to do is find who did this. She wants to find the culprit. This is a more personal battle for her than any of the previous trials have been. I’m sure Umi and Mari can relate to that.

“Hey, Dia, I have a question for you too.”

“Huh? What is it Chika?”

“Well, there was a lot of stuff you took out of your room, I was wondering what was left in there.”

“Oh, well I can’t show you since Monokuma must have put it all back when we were put to sleep but it’s not like there’s much to remember. I took out everything except for the mattress of my bed. I moved it from where it was in the middle of the room to the back corner so it would be able to hold Ruby still against the wall. She still got pretty bruised up from the whole ordeal but she’s mostly unharmed. Anyways, to answer your question more simply I took out everything except for the mattress. My only sense of time was the nighttime and morning announcements since I took the alarm clock out too, I didn’t want Ruby to be able to choke herself on the cord.”

“Alright, that makes sense then, thanks for telling me, I’m not sure if that’s something that would be useful though.”

As I got up I heard another set of footsteps enter the Cafeteria. I turned and saw Maki walking over to me, with the book she had taken to the Courtyard in her arm.

“Hey, Chika, I found the matching mark for what type of explosion this was.”

“Really! Well what was it Maki?”

“It’s propane, it explains why there was a fire as well. When propane explodes it sends up a fireball so it’s almost undoubted that in the Courtyard of all places there would be a lot of trees and bushes that could catch the flames.”

“Alright, so we at least know there was a fireball, I’m not sure if that’s something that’ll be helpful or not.”

“I’m sure we can figure out some use for that information. Now come on, the investigation time should be up soon.”

Almost as if on cue with Maki’s words, there was a sound from the corner of the room and Monokuma’s voice emanated into the room.

“The investigation is now over! Please report to the Commons Area for the fourth Hotel Trial!”

Following Monokuma’s instructions Maki, myself, Dia, Mari, and Ruby all left the Cafeteria and went to the Commons Area. After us came Riko, Hanayo and Rin, followed by Umi and Nozomi, and lastly You.

Once everyone was in the room, the grate came down over the door and the ground started to shake. I’d grown fully accustomed to the feeling and it made me sick. It’s time for the fourth trial, the trial to find the person who killed Maru in such a gruesome way. I can’t imagine the pain that must have come from that kind of death.

Once the room came to a stop the 11 remaining girls stepped out into the trial grounds. There were two stands in the podiums of Nico and Maru, reminders that they were gone.

But I had to put that aside, it was time for the trial to begin. Time to bring the fourth killer to justice. Time to avenge Maru’s life and bring the number of residents to just 10.

 

**_TRIAL START_ **

 

Mari: Where do we even begin with this?

Dia: I think we should establish a starting point before we try to solve anything. It would be pointless to try to build off of nothing.

Umi: Well then let’s start with ruling out our suspects, our most likely is Chika, but I doubt it’s her, so if we start with figuring out how it can’t be her then we may be able to build off of that.

Maki: Alright, this should be quick enough.

 

Umi: Since we’re assuming Chika isn’t the killer

We should talk about why she’s the most likely suspect

Riko: That’s because she was  **at the scene** as the explosion happened

Rin: And since  **she had the disease** she was really confused!

Mari: And if she was confused, she could have killed Maru  **without realizing it**

Chika: Thank you all for believing in me, but I can’t find any contradictions yet…

You: Don’t worry Chika, we’ll prove you innocent!

Hanayo:  **You didn’t see anyone** as you walked to the Courtyard

So nobody can confirm what time you went there

Maki: There’s something you’re all missing out on

Ruby: Maybe there was  **something that couldn’t be there** if Chika killed her?

Chika: That’s it!

 

Chika: There’s no way I could have been the one who killed Maru!

Maki: Care to explain?

Chika: Well, I was knocked to the wall outside of the Courtyard when the explosion happened, right?

Mari: Yes, that’s where your outline was.

Chika: Well if that’s where I was, then this hair proves I wasn’t the killer!

Rin: Wait you’re already using the hair as evidence?

Chika: Yup! Since you found the hair farther into the courtyard there’s no way it could be mine if I was near the door when the explosion happened!

Mari: Great! So we know Chika can’t be the killer here! And since Dia and Ruby were together they have their own alibis. That means we’ve limited the suspects to only eight of us!

Ruby: I was awake and fighting Sis when the explosion happened so Mari’s right, the two of us have our alibis.

You: So where does that bring us? We should ask more questions until we find the culprit!

Chika: Well when Nozomi and I were in the Storage room there was something missing, we don’t know what, but now that I think about it it would make sense to be the propane tank that was used to kill Maru.

Umi: Well then we still have the question of the sword embedded in the wall outside the Courtyard.

You: And the cable in the pool.

Dia: I wonder how they could relate to the killing.

Maki: I’m not sure we have enough information to discuss those yet.

Nozomi: I agree with Maki, there’s no link. We should talk about something else.

Hanayo: Well what are we supposed to talk about?

Maki: Well, there’s one very real possibility that should be discussed.

Chika: What’s that Maki?

Maki: Mari said our pool of suspects was brought down to the eight of us other than Ruby, Dia, and Chika.

Riko: Well isn’t that right Maki? Is there anyone else with a perfect alibi?

Maki: It’s not that eight is too high, it’s that there’s one more possible suspect.

Rin: What? But it’s impossible for it to be Ruby or Dia and we already said it can’t be Chika!

Maki: Of course, you’re exactly right. It’s not any of those three. So why don’t you all go ahead and think about it, who else could be the killer if there’s more than the eight of us who aren’t confirmed and the three who we know can’t be the killer?

 

There are only eleven of us in the trial. Three of us are confirmed innocent. If there’s someone other than those eight remaining then they can’t be in this trial right now.

 

Chika: W-Wait you can’t be serious Maki!

Mari: Did you figure something out Chika?

Chika: I think so… She’s not wrong, it’s possible, but I can’t believe it!

Ruby: Well who else could be the killer? Which of the three of us could it still be?

Chika: No, it’s not one of us, Maki’s saying that it’s possible that Maru was the one who blew herself up.

Maki: Exactly.

Rin: Wait what? There’s no way we can believe that!

Umi: Maki isn’t wrong, we can’t deny the fact that it’s a possibility if we want to have a fair trial…

Dia: No! We can’t accept this, There’s no way Maru could have done that!

Nozomi: But with her disease, what if she thought she was playing with a ball of something rather than a tank of propane?

Mari: That can’t be right, last night Chika and I were talking with her and she was fully aware of the danger of death even with the disease!

Chika: Yeah! There’s no way Maru would have done something like that and killed herself with an explosion!

Monokuma: Hold it right there everyone!

You: Huh? What do you want Monokuma? We’re having a discussion here!

Monokuma: Well I’ll just say that it’s about time you’ve all been split down the middle! I’ve had this ready the whole time but no chance to use it…

Hanayo: W-What do you-

 

Before Hanayo could finish speaking monokuma pulled out a key and put it into a lock that rose into place above him. Once he turned the key the stands we were all at began to shift. Once they finally stopped moving we were positioned in two rows facing each other.

 

Monokuma: There we go! Now you can all have a more formal type of debate! Two opposing sides! Everyone who thinks it could be Maru against everyone who doesn’t!

 

I looked to my side. The side who believe Maru couldn’t have killed herself. It was myself, Ruby, Dia, Rin, and Mari. On the other side were Maki, Umi, Riko, Nozomi, Hanayo, and You. Maki was the first to speak once the dust settled.

 

Maki: Well, there’s no evidence to prove that Maru didn’t kill herself.

Chika: But there’s not any  **evidence** that says she did either!

Umi: How can you say she didn’t do it when there’s no indication of anyone else at the scene other than Chika?

Rin: We do have an  **indication** ! The hair we found in the Courtyard!

Riko: If Maru blew herself up, then Maru’s position would fit if she tripped.

Dia: No, Maki’s estimation put Maru right next to the bomb, her  **position** would have been too close if she dropped it!

Nozomi: Since she had the disease, it’s easily believable for her not to realize she was killing herself.

Mari: No, Maru knew what death meant even with the  **disease** , she wouldn’t do something so dangerous!

Hanayo: Couldn’t Maru have not known that the propane was explosive? Then she may have thought it would be a toy.

Ruby: Maru wouldn’t have thought it was a toy because  **propane** is too heavy!

You: But since she died from the explosion then there’s no way the killer could have gotten away before either Maru moved or they got blown up with the bomb!

Chika: But we don’t know that she  **died** to the explosion! We found a bunch of weapons near the scene!

 

Riko: Wait what do you mean she may not have died from the explosion?

Chika: Well look at the Monokuma file. It doesn’t tell us the cause of death. We also found a sword and a metal cable near the courtyard so either of those could have been used to kill her!

Nozomi: But the explosion seems so obvious, why would the killer blow her up if she was already dead?

Mari: Maybe they wanted to destroy something else, or maybe they wanted to make an autopsy impossible?

Hanayo: Or maybe they just really didn’t like her…

Ruby: How could anyone not like Maru! She’s so kind and sweet and gentle!

Rin: H-Hey… We should try to talk about this more instead of fighting.

Umi: Yes, we should talk about whether there’s anything to prove that the explosion was not the cause of death. If it is the case then we will know that Hanamaru was not her own killer.

 

Maki: We know there was  **a propane explosion** that blew up Maru

Nozomi: That’s the last thing that could have been done

since we were all put to sleep immediately after

Riko: There was also a  **sword** above where Chika was

Hanayo: If that’s the weapon, the cause of death would have been  **being cut**

You: And we found a metal cable in the pool

It was a lot like a rope

Umi: In that case, it’s possible she was  **strangled** as well.

Mari: As far as we know, those are **the only possible weapons** .

Chika: No! That’s wrong!

 

Dia: Chika? Did you find another possible weapon?

Chika: I’m not completely sure but there’s something else we found that was a bit strange.

Maki: And what’s that?

Chika: In the exercise room, Hanayo and Riko found a barbell on the floor. It had 100 kilograms on it so if that were dropped on someone-

Umi: Hold on!

 

Umi: Come now Chika, there’s no way anyone could have lifted something that heavy in order to drop it on someone. Rin and You are the strongest ones here and they couldn’t even lift that much, I’m sure. Don’t interrupt the trial with useless information like that.

Chika: How are you sure the information is useless? If there’s a possibility that the barbell was used to kill her then we have to consider it!

Umi: But there is no possibility, the barbell was in the Exercise Room. There wasn’t any blood on it either, so it couldn’t have been used as a blunt weapon. And if  **nobody could lift it** then there’s no way someone used it as a weapon.

Chika: Your logic is wrong!

 

Umi: What are you talking about? Nobody in this building could have lifted that barbell.

Chika: Actually, Rin proved to us that  _ anyone _ could lift it.

Riko: She’s right, if you were to push it from below then it becomes pretty easy to lift it enough to get it over the lip that usually holds it in place and onto someone laying on the bench below.

Hanayo: Y-Yeah, Riko and I were both able to push it onto the bench and if we could I’m sure just about anyone could.

Rin: Although, when they pushed the barbell it landed in front of the bench. We found the barbell next to the bench so it wouldn’t make sense for the killing to have happened like that.

Maki: I think I see where Chika’s going with this. If it were pushed and there were a body on the bench, the curvature of the neck would cause the bar to flip sideways rather than roll down the bench.

Nozomi: So it’s possible that the killer pushed the bar up and killed her by crushing her neck instead, then blew her up to prevent an autopsy?

Maki: Possibly, although I’m still confused by the katana and the cable if that’s the case. What use would the killer have had for them? The seem to be useless.

Nozomi: You’re right, maybe the killer wasn’t rational. I also want to point out something else though.

Dia: What is it Nozomi?

Nozomi: How do we know Chika’s right?

Ruby: H-Huh? Why are we questioning Chika? I thought we all believed in her!

Nozomi: You’re right, but we should discuss this anyways. I’m not sure we know for a fact that the explosion wasn’t the weapon yet.

Chika: No, we do have something that proves that it couldn’t be the weapon.

Nozomi: Well what is it? I want to move on just as much as everyone else. I just don’t want us to miss out on something important and have it cost us.

Chika: Of course, but look at the Monokuma file. It says the time of death was 10:30.

Dia: And I assume by the way you’re saying that, you know something that would mean it’s impossible for the explosion to have happened at that time?

Chika: Yes, Umi told me that as she was passing out she was in her room and looked at her clock. She told me it was 11AM when we were all put to sleep.

Nozomi: Alright then, you’re right, if Umi’s right about that then there’s no way the explosion was the cause of death. There was a full 30 minutes between when she died and when the explosion happened.

Mari: With that much time it would be a fair guess that Maru could have been taken from the Exercise Room to the Courtyard.

Maki: And we’ve agreed that the explosion was used to prevent an autopsy, but where does that leave the katana and cable?

Chika: I honestly don’t know. It seems pointless but if it was there it must have been used for something…

Nozomi: Well, we don’t have anything else to go on, what if it was used to ignite the propane?

Dia: What? That’s impos-

Maki: Actually no, that makes perfect sense, since the sword is metal, metal scraping against metal would create a spark to ignite the propane.

Nozomi: So if the propane tank was impaled-

Mari: -then a spark would have ignited the gas and caused the explosion.

Riko: But what about the cable? Where does that fit in?

Maki: No, there’s a more important question to the impaled theory. Where was the killer when this happened?

Hanayo: Y-Yeah, if the killer was too close to the tank, she would have been killed alongside Hanamaru.

Umi: Also isn’t it odd that there’s not another human shaped empty spot in the blood? The killer would have had to have been in the room to impale the tank, right?

Rin: Yeah, if the killer wasn’t in the room then how could she have impaled the tank?

Nozomi: Hm, I guess we were wrong then, what do you think was used to blow up the tank Chika? We didn’t find anything that could be used to ignite it directly. Maybe something was burnt by the explosion?

Chika: H-huh? Well… If it couldn’t have been the sword it must have been the cable, right? The only thing that could create a spark is something hard. I cable is flimsy but still strong enough to spark it, right?

Monokuma: You know, you’re doing a whole lot of talking but not very much blaming!

Ruby: H-huh? What do you mean Monokuma!

You: No, he’s right actually, after we proved that the killer can’t be Chika, Maru, Dia, or Ruby we haven’t done anything to find any potential suspects…

Riko: Even if we figured out how the killing happened, it wouldn’t matter if we can’t find out who was the person who did it…

Chika: Don’t worry! We can figure that out later alright! We’ll find the killer so don’t worry about it!

Nozomi: Come on, let’s just keep discussing how the propane was ignited. What do you think the killer did with the cable?

 

Ruby: You could probably use the cable to ignite the propane

By  **rubbing it** against the tank

That would make a spark, setting off the gas

Rin: Well if you were to flick it hard enough

You could  **use the cable as a whip** !

Mari: Oh! But would it be strong enough to pierce the tank?

You: What if the cable  **didn’t pierce it** ?

Chika: That’s it!

 

Dia: Wait hold on, how could the tank have exploded without being pierced? Clearly it had to rupture in order to ignite the gas and cause the explosion.

Chika: But that doesn’t mean the cable was what broke the tank!

Rin: I’m confused, someone explain this to me.

Chika: What if the cable was used as a pulley to lift the tank in the air and drop it? The metal crashing into the concrete may have been enough to create a spark and ignite the gas!

Nozomi: But how would it have been lifted? Is there anything in the Courtyard that could have been used as a pulley?

Maki: Of course, there are trees everywhere, that should be obvious. But there’s a bigger flaw in this logic than that.

Chika: Huh? What’s wrong Maki?

Maki: If the killer were to use the cable and tree branch as a pulley, we need to know both where the killer was and how the killer would have disconnected the cable and the tank in order to throw the cable into the pool. If it were to be used as a pulley a knot would have been needed, so we need to know what was used to sever the knot and retrieve the cable.

Chika: Of course. I wouldn’t have said anything if I couldn’t explain that much Maki.

Maki: I’ll leave it to you then, go ahead.

Chika: Well, it’s a pretty weak cable right? It’s not much stronger than a regular rope.

You: Yeah, that’s right.

Chika: So, what if the killer used the katana to cut it. They had the tank up in the air and were stood at the doorway where the Pool and Courtyard meet. They threw the katana, cutting the cable, and the knotted bit would have been destroyed in the explosion. They could have stepped back around the corner of the door to avoid the blood splatter, and the angle would line up with where it was lodged in the doorway.

Nozomi: And then they could throw the cable into the pool before we were put to sleep!

Maki: I will say your theory holds up and it would explain some loose ends. If the katana were simply on the floor then it would have impaled the floor lower to the ground. I guess we can assume that’s correct then.

Umi: But wait, couldn’t there have been some type of fuse that was used?

Dia: No, in order for a fuse to work it would have to be a solid explosive or in a container in which a fuse could be inserted without allowing the contents to escape. Since this was a gas explosion in a standard propane tank there’s no way I can think of that a fuse could be used.

Umi: Ah, yes, I suppose you’re right. I apologize, please continue.

Hanayo: So does that mean we have a full sequence of events? We don’t have a reason for somebody to kill Hanamaru or a culprit but it could help to go over what happened again.

Riko: Alright then, Chika figured most of this out so she should be the one to recap!

Chika: A-Alright, if you say so.

 

First the killer brought Maru to the exercise room. She was likely asleep. The killer then placed Maru on the bench and prepared to kill her. She first placed a bar on the bench and began to put weight on it. Once it was full of a lot of weight she pushed the barbell out of the pocket it was held in and it fell onto Maru’s neck, killing her instantly. The culprit didn’t seem too careful about evidence since they left the barbell in plain view.

Once Maru was dead, they brought her to the Courtyard. They got a long metal cable that was quite weak and a tank of propane from the Storage room and retrieved a katana from somewhere else, possibly a personal belonging or something in the Storage room as well that we simply didn’t notice, Monokuma did say there were weapons in there after all. This may have been done either before or after the killing, that is something we don’t know.

Once everything was gathered, Maru was placed under a tree branch and the cable was thrown over the branch for use as a pulley. The culprit then tied a knot around the propane tank and pulled it up above Maru’s body.

At this point I was walking towards the Courtyard already, but it was too late, Maru was long dead, and in just a few minutes her body would be destroyed.

Once everything was ready, the killer threw the katana they had and cut the cable. As the propane fell they ducked around the corner and pulled the cable in with them. Upon impact with the ground the tank ruptured and exploded into a massive fireball. Then Monokuma’s announcement played and the killer realized that they only had a few moments to dispose of evidence. In those few moments they took the cable and threw it into the pool.

 

Chika: That’s the series of events undertaken by the killer to cause Maru’s death! Now, we must do our best to find who could have performed all of this!

 

Nozomi: Hold on Chika, I have one question about your explanation that doesn’t quite add up.

Maki: Yes, there’s one thing you have yet to explain. How did the hair Rin found end up there if we assume it was not Maru’s hair. The only other person who’s hair it could be is the killer’s.

Chika: W-Well, maybe the killer accidently cut their own hair when they threw the katana?

Riko: But then how did it end up so far away? The hair was made pretty important earlier so if we can’t figure out who’s it was and how it got there I’m not sure we can end this trial.

Maki: Well, I’m sure we can come back to this, we need to focus more on who the culprit is right now rather than how they committed their crime.

Chika: Yeah, we have to find who did this, what we know is it can’t be myself since I was at the front of the room and could not have thrown the cable into the pool, and it can’t be Ruby or Dia since they were in Dia’s room when the explosion happened. Ruby was awake so she confirms Dia’s alibi. Since everyone with the disease has been ruled out we know that the only people it could be are the other eight of you.

You: That all sounds right, we need to narrow down which of us it is then!

 

Maki: I was in the  **Medicine Room** when the explosion happened.

Rin: I was with Riko, You, and Kayo-chin in the  **Commons Area** .

Mari: I was in the  **Stage** at the time.

Nozomi: I was in the  **Baths** with Umi.

You: That’s everyone accounted for.

We  **all have alibis** .

Chika: No! That’s not right!

 

You: Huh? What do you mean? We all have somewhere that we claim to be.

Chika: We do, but there are two that were alone and don’t have any type of alibi as a result. Mari and Maki don’t have anyone to confirm where they were.

Maki: While you’re right I’m confused about one other thing. Umi claims to have seen a clock as she was being put to sleep, but I don’t recall a clock being in the Baths. Though this may be moot since Nozomi was the one to confirm where she was and I don’t see any reason for a spotless to defend a killer.

Nozomi: Oh that’s simple, there’s no clock in the Baths, you’re right, but when the explosion happened was just after we had gotten out. We were in the changing rooms, and there’s a clock in there. That’s what she looked at.

Umi: Y-Yeah, I was a bit worried about using the changing rooms since we were told only to change in our own rooms, but I guess it was fine to use the rooms in the Baths.

Maki: Alright then, I guess that since they can confirm each other and there were four people in the Commons Area, only two of us remain suspects.

You: That’s right, either Mari or Maki must be the culprit then.

Maki: So, how are we going to do this Mari? In my mind you’re the only possible killer, and I’m sure in yours it has to be me.

Mari: Of course, I didn’t kill Maru so it would make sense to suspect you, right?

Maki: Are you implying something else?

Mari: Yes, I didn’t kill her and I know you’re too smart to kill like that.

Nozomi: So Mari is defending Maki and herself? She’s trying to say someone with an alibi was the one to kill Hanamaru?

Rin: She did say she was in the stage… That’s pretty close to the Courtyard.

Mari: Please, I can explain why I was there, I didn’t kill Maru, I could never do something like that!

Dia: Please explain then, We’ll listen to you Mari.

 

Mari: I was in the  **Stage**

I’ve been going there often recently

I’m hoping I don’t have to explain why

Riko: Please Mari, you have to do this

for the sake of the trial

Mari: Very well, it hurts to talk about

I’ve been going to mourn Kanan

I’m sure she’s still watching us

hoping we can get along

Umi: How do we know this isn’t a lie?

Mari: It’s not! Why would I lie about that!

Dia: Mari, please calm down

Mari: R-Right, well I didn’t kill her

I was busy at her  **altar** .

Chika: Hold it!

 

Mari: Wh-what is it? Is there something wrong with mourning your loved ones Chika? You cared about Kanan too, didn’t you?

Chika: Of course I did, and that’s why I’m doing this, Mari. The altars for everyone are in the Commons Area. How were you mourning at her altar when you weren’t even where the altar is?

Riko: Besides, if you went there then myself, Rin, You, and Hanayo would have seen you!

Mari: What are you talking about? I don’t remember making her altar in there?

Riko: What do you mean that  **you** don’t remember? Umi made the altars.

Umi: H-Hey! You weren’t supposed to say that Riko…

Riko: Sorry about that Umi… But it was important for the trial!

Mari: Oh, that’s what you mean… Even if Umi made those altars for everyone how do you know that’s the only altar for any of the other girls?

Ruby: You mean that you-

Mari: Yes, I made my own altar for her using a picture that Nozomi took of us. So please, if not for me then out of respect of Kanan, please stop accusing me of killing Maru!

Hanayo: But if it wasn’t you it had to be Maki, right?

Maki: I promise you that I was not the killer, so that would mean either Mari is desecrating Kanan’s honour which I doubt, or someone else is lying. I propose we try to think about the motive again however.

You: You mean the disease.

Maki: Yes, why would someone kill Hanamaru. It would make sense that the killer would use the Childlike disease to make killing her easier but that doesn’t explain why someone decided to kill.

Nozomi: Let’s just discuss everything we know about the disease again to see if we find any discrepancies.

 

Mari: Ruby was the first to get the disease

we decided to call it the  **Rage disease**

Dia: Next was Maru

Riko: We called hers the  **Childlike disease**

And the killer used it to make killing Maru easier

Rin: The third to get the disease was Chika

You: Hers was called the Mix-up disease

Ruby: The three of us were  **the only ones to catch the disease** .

Chika: No, that’s wrong!

 

Ruby: Wh-What? I know I’m not the smartest one here but I don’t think I forgot how to count to three Chika.

Chika: No, that’s not what I mean. There’s something Monokuma told me in the Commons Area the day before Ruby caught the disease. He said that there was someone who already knew about the next motive, which ended up being the disease. So I think someone caught the disease on the first day after the trial and kept it a secret all this time. That would make Ruby the second to catch the disease, not the first.

You: But Chika, you said you couldn’t tell that you had the disease, so even if that’s right then they wouldn’t have known, meaning Monokuma’s statement wouldn’t be true.

Chika: No, Ruby and I had the same thing happen. Even if we couldn’t tell we had the disease specifically we both had this weird feeling when we woke up on the days we caught the disease. Isn’t that right Ruby?

Ruby: Yeah, I had this weird feeling when I woke up and then before I could really process anything my body flung itself forward and started acting like how you all saw me for those few days…

Maki: So you’re saying someone could have caught the disease before Ruby then put the pieces together once Monokuma explained Ruby’s disease? Or maybe Monokuma told the one who caught the disease directly.

Chika: Exactly, There’s no way to know for sure but that makes sense right?

Nozomi: Yeah, it makes sense, but it doesn’t make suspects any wider, plus we don’t know if you’re even telling the truth. If there was nobody else there to confirm it then you could be lying through your teeth, couldn’t you?

Mari: What’s wrong with you Nozomi? We already determined Chika couldn’t be the killer.

Chika: Don’t worry about it Mari, because there is someone who was with me. Umi was there. She can confirm what Monokuma said!

Nozomi: Well then, can you Umi? That would certainly help push the trial along.

Umi: …

Chika: Umi?

Umi: I recall no such thing.

Chika: Wait what? But you were there! Monokuma said it himself! Someone knew about the motive already!

Umi: Everyone, Chika is lying, Monokuma never came to us in the Commons Area.

Rin: Huh? Is that true? But then, that would be incriminating Chika who can’t be the killer!

Maki: I guess we’re left with a choice, Umi or Chika, who do we believe more?

Riko: That’s not necessary.

Nozomi: Hm? Are you coming to defend Chika?

Umi: So you’re working with her is that it? Sacrificing yourself to let Chika leave?

Riko: No, I’m here to say that Umi wasn’t the only one who can confirm what Chika said.

Chika: Huh?

You: That’s right, Riko and I were there too when this happened. Umi’s lying.

Umi: W-Wait, no you weren’t what are you talking about?

Riko: Well that was easier than expected.

Nozomi: You do realize that even if they weren’t there, you just admitted that that conversation with Monokuma did in fact happen, right Umi?

Umi: W-Wait, what? No! I didn’t-

Dia: Umi, give it up, you’re caught.

Ruby: Why did you do this? How could you do this to Maru?!

Umi: No! I didn’t kill Maru!

Rin: Then why did you lie about what Monokuma said? Explain yourself Umi!

Umi: N-No I-

Chika: Wait everyone!

Mari: What is it Chika? Shouldn’t we be ready to vote now?

Chika: No, if Umi were the killer there are two more questions I have.

Maki: Hm, so you did notice.

Chika: Yes, there’s another issue here.

Hanayo: Well what is it?

Chika: It’s the alibis we were given.

Ruby: What’s wrong with them?

Chika: It should be clear now that I’ve pointed it out, why did Nozomi claim that Umi was in the Baths with her? If Umi were killing Maru at that point then there’s no way she could have been with Nozomi!

Maki: So what you’re saying, is rather than Umi being the killer, she’s working with Nozomi. Nozomi has been both covering and incriminating her, so it seems like that would be absurd if Nozomi’s testimony were true.

Nozomi: What? So you think I’m the killer now?

Dia: It certainly seems possible since you were the one who gave Umi an alibi that’s now seemingly impossible. She admitted to lying about what Monokuma said, so what reason would she have to do that? If it were her who already had the disease then why would she lie, she could have just told us what her disease was. But she can’t be guilty since you covered for her, isn’t that right? If you told the truth she can’t be the killer, but if she can’t be the killer then she had no reason to lie.

Nozomi: Dia, you have totally lost me with that, too many words, someone dumber please explain.

Ruby: What sis was saying is that since you defended Umi earlier you’re even more suspicious than her!

Maki: The current possible suspects in order of suspicion would seem to be Mari, myself, Umi, and then you, Nozomi. How are you going to explain your defense of Umi in a way that could possibly explain her as the killer rather than you?

Nozomi: Wow, you’re all being really stupid right now, it’s simple, my alibi is true. Umi and I were in the changing room in the Baths. Nothing more, nothing less. I couldn’t tell you why Umi lied, but I can tell you that it is absolutely impossible for either of us to be the killer.

You: The both of you have been so suspicious, how can we believe your claim without more proof than that Nozomi?

Nozomi: I guess you’re right there, but I’m not lying. Choose to believe me or don’t, that’s the simple fact of the matter.

Mari: I’m not sure she’s going to budge on this. We need to find some way to break her.

Maki: Well, let’s try to break Umi instead, she’s far worse at lying so it shouldn’t be hard to make her slip up.

 

Maki: So Umi, explain your lie

Why did you lie?

Umi: I did it to  **hide the truth**

Riko: I think the question Maki is asking

is who did you lie for?

Umi: W-Well, that’s…

Mari: Come on, say it Umi

Who wanted you to lie?

Umi: I lied for myself!

**I’m the one** who wanted to lie!

Chika: No! That’s wrong!

 

Umi: No! I did it for myself and that’s the truth! No matter how much you deny it I lied for my sake and mine alone!

Chika: Then what disease did you have! There’s no other reason you would have lied about Monokuma saying that someone had the disease before Ruby. If you tell us what disease you had and give us an example of when someone would have noticed the disease then we’ll believe you and both yourself and Nozomi will be safe!

Maki: And the person who noticed better not be Nozomi or we’ll just take every word you’ve said as false.

Umi: I… I didn’t have the disease! That wasn’t my reason! But it really was for myself! Please believe me!

Rin: W-Well… She really does seem to be earnest about it…

Ruby: Yeah, she doesn’t seem like she’s lying right now…

Maki: She’s so easy to read so I guess she really does have a reason to lie for herself. The next step in that case would be to figure out why she was lying, this would either confirm with absolute certainty or disprove that Nozomi was possibly the killer.

Mari: The alternative would be to prove that Nozomi had the disease, isn’t that right?

Dia: I feel this would be best. For Umi’s sake so that her reason doesn’t become exposed.

Chika: I agree, let’s just prove that Nozomi had the disease to end this. We know it can’t be Riko, You, Rin, or Hanayo now, so we just need to show that Maki, Mari, and Umi didn’t have it!

Umi: No, let’s just end this, this is going long enough…

Nozomi: Huh? What do you mean?

Umi: Nozomi lied, I was not in the Baths and neither was she, I was in my own room. I’m almost certain she was truly the killer since she lied in a way that I could defend her.

She made a deal with me and my end was if she were to kill someone I would have to defend her so she could escape. That’s my confession everyone. I apologize I had to lie like this…

Nozomi: YOU-

Mari: Shut it Nozomi! We don’t want to hear a word from you at this point!

Ruby: W-Was it really you Nozomi? You were the one to kill Maru?

Maki: It’s obvious enough at this point, I know we won’t get it from Umi so I’ll ask Nozomi. What was your end of the deal? I can only assume that it’s blackmail. Umi’s probably decided that our survival is more important than the blackmail, so what were you holding her with?

Nozomi: …

Dia: So now you’re quiet. You refuse to answer our questions now that you know you’ll die. That’s how it is then.

Chika: Wait, there’s one other question I have that’s probably less painful for her.

Nozomi: What is it Chika?

Chika: Well… You had the disease, didn’t you? What did it do?

Nozomi: Heh… I guess I’d call it the self hatred disease if I had to put a name on it…

Hanayo: What do you mean? Did it make you hate yourself or-

Nozomi: Exactly, it made me hate myself and everything I stood for. That’s why I killed Hanamaru. Because of the disease. I saw my past in her, a quiet girl, always in back, usually with my head in a book. That’s who I was. And so Hanamaru’s similarity to myself was what made me kill her. I’m sorry, Ruby, Dia, everyone who cared about her. It’s my fault such a nice and sweet girl is gone. And I’m sorry Eli, I know you wanted me to live, but it seems I’m coming to join you sooner than you’d wanted...

Chika: That disease explains what I saw you burning…

Nozomi: What? You said you didn’t see it!

Chika: I lied, I saw what you burnt, it was your cards. I only saw one of them, The Sun.

Nozomi: Heh… Even when I’m being controlled by a disease I’m still giving you good luck it seems. I’m sure you’ll be successful Chika.

Umi: Hey, um, is it ok if I-

Nozomi: No Umi, we’re done now, just vote already.

Monokuma: Huh? Are you finally done? That went so long I fell asleep! Seriously, go faster next time! Anyways, it looks like it’s voting time! Remember to pick who you think the culprit is!

 

The pedestal rose before me and I made the obvious choice. Nozomi had admitted it and nobody else could be the killer. She didn’t do it out of malice, she was controlled by Monokuma’s disease, that was what happened!

 

Monokuma:Well here we are! The votes have been made! There are nine vote for Nozomi and still two for Umi. I wonder who those could be Upupu. But the blackened has been found! Nozomi Toujou is indeed the one who killed Hanamaru Kunikida in cold blood!

 

**_TRIAL END_ **

 

“It doesn’t matter what you say Monokuma! We know it wasn’t cold blooded! It’s your disease that caused this!”

“Huh? Who said that, Takami?”

“W-Well… Nozomi…”

Monokuma sighed at my statement.

“Well, I guess none of you have learned how this really works, do you.”

“Um, so I have something-”

“Stop it Umi, it’s over, I’ve already been voted for, there’s nothing you can do now to save me, the deal’s been nulled.”

“Then why haven’t you broken your end?”

“Just because you failed doesn’t mean I’ll throw you under a bus Umi, I’ll leave the rest to figure it out.”

“Well, there’s something else I wanted to say.”

“I told you Umi, stop try-”

“Umi, don’t listen to her, me, sis, we’ll listen to you, ok?”

“Thank you Ruby, well, Nozomi didn’t have the self hatred dis-”

“YOU SON OF A-”

Nozomi lunged at Umi as if she was going to try to kill her but Maki jumped into action, grabbing Nozomi as she passed and holding her arm in her mouth. Maki’s face contorted in pain as Nozomi tried to bite her but Maki didn’t let go.

“Her disease, it was something else, she didn’t name it or tell me what it did but I would call it the trickster disease instead.”

“What did that do?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure, but it made her more manipulative, better at leading people along and making them believe in something that was false. Based on her actions during the trial I would say that even though Monokuma said he would cure everyone’s diseases, hers was probably left. Monokuma was right about one thing though. Nozomi did kill Hanamaru in cold blood. But it was still the fault of the disease, the person you see there isn’t Nozomi! That’s a person who’s been possessed by Monokuma’s motives and enjoyment of death!”

Suddenly I heard a small scream from Maki and Nozomi was on top of Umi with her pinned to the ground.

“THAT’S IT, I WAS GOING TO LET YOU OFF. BUT NOT NOW, NOT AFTER YOU PULL THAT!”

“Upupu it looks like it’s punishment time, doesn’t it? Come on Toujou! Your time’s come to get out of here!”

Monokuma pulled out his mallet as his button rose before him. He hit the button as he always does and Nozomi’s death was set to begin. She was separated from Umi before being pulled away from all of us watching.

When the screens surrounding the trial ground came to life we saw Nozomi tied down on the ground by the hands and legs. Monokuma appeared with a deck of cards in his hands. He took the top card. The Devil. Suddenly a fire erupted around Nozomi and she started to sweat. Monokuma picked another card. The Chariot. A stampede of horses suddenly came and Nozomi was bloodied and trampled. He looked to be in immense pain, but one of the horses had cut the rope on her left arm. She began to frantically try to write something in her own blood. Monokuma then took the card on the bottom of the deck. Judgement. There was a shine above Nozomi, and as it grew closer we could see what it was. A massive sword was coming to impale her. And then it did. The blade pushed into her and she coughed out an absurd amount of blood. With the last of her life she finished the message she had written. We were left to see Nozomi’s impaled corpse as the last of her life drained as well as the massage she had left us.

 

“No, no, no, no, no! She said she wouldn’t, I tried my best to help her! I-”

“Umi, is this true? Do you really-”

“Yes Maki… Nozomi’s message is true… But I can’t say anything… I’d be dead before the words could come out…”

“I see. We’ll just have to be more careful with you then. Watch your back Umi. It’d be unsurprising if you were tortured for that information, possibly even killed.”

“Y-You’re right Maki, I apologize everyone. But I can’t tell you… I would if I could but I really can’t!”

“It’s ok Umi! I’ll believe in you! Just because you know doesn’t mean you’re working with them!”

“Yes! Thank you Rin! I’m glad that at the very least you still trust me!”

Everyone went around stating whether they still trusted Umi, those who did were myself, Rin, Hanayo, Ruby, and Dia. Those who didn’t were Maki, Mari, Riko, and You. There were only ten of us left. Our numbers were small. And they would only grow smaller. Nozomi’s message would never stop eating at our minds.

Umi knows the Mastermind.

**_CHAPTER 4: END_ **

**Author's Note:**

> I really love to see theories and ideas of what may happen! So if you have any of them comments are really appreciated! I really to try my best to make this good so when people tel me that it's good it really does touch my heart. I didn't expect as many people to read this as have been and it's kind of amazing to get such long paragraphs of support telling me how amazing this is! I'm sorry again this chapter took so long, school's annoying, there's also going to be a bit of delay for the next one due to upcoming midterms and I need to write my gift for the Love Live Secret Santa! Please be patient for the next chapter!


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